Displacement of a rigid rod in a viscous medium

The spatial displacement of an absolutely rigid vertical rod in a viscous medium is considered; the rod is hinged at the upper end to a platform moving on the surface of the viscous medium over a specified curvilinear trajectory. A load is attached to the lower end of the rod. Using a variational Lagrangian equation, a nonlinear system of ordinary differential equations in terms of the angles of rod rotation determining the position of points of this rod at any time is obtained. As an example, the problem is solved for conditions of acceleration, uniform motion, and deceleration of the reference point moving over a trajectory consisting of rectilinear sections and portions of circles. The differential equations obtained may be used in determining the position of rod-type elements suspended in a viscous medium.Donetsk. Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Prikladnaya Mekhanika, No. 21, pp. 108–112, 1990.     

Decoupling problems around a trajectory: from linearity to nonlinearity

Given a nonlinear control system for which an admissible statetrajectory is specified, we solve approximately the input outputdecoupling problem around this nominal trajectory. An approximatesolution for this problem is obtained by dealing with the linearizedsystem along this trajectory. An exact solution to the inputoutput decoupling problem for the linearization is shown tobe an approximate solution to the input output decoupling problemaround the nominal trajectory for the original nonlinear system.In a similar way, we provide an approximate solution to thedisturbance decoupling problem around a specified trajectoryof the nonlinear system. The nonlinear model of a two link robotmanipulator is used to illustrate the results on input outputdecoupling.     

An estimate of the attraction domain with a specified exponential stability index in a wheeled robot control problem

The problem of synthesizing a law for the control of the plane motion of a wheeled robot is investigated. The rear wheels are the drive wheels and the front wheels are responsible for the turning of the platform. The aim of the control is to steer a target point to a specified trajectory and to stabilize the motion along it. The trajectory is assumed to be specified by a smooth curve. The actual curvature of the trajectory of the target point, which is related to the angle of rotation of the front wheels by a simple algebraic relation, is considered as the control. The control is subjected to bilateral constraints by virtue of the fact that the angle of rotation of the front wheels is limited. The attraction domain in the distance to trajectory - orientation space, is investigated for the proposed control law. Arrival at a trajectory with a specified exponential stability index is guaranteed in the case of initial conditions belonging to the given domain. An estimate of the attraction domain in the form of an ellipse is given.     

Cell-to-cell mapping method for time-optimal trajectory planning of multiple robot arm systems

This paper presents the results obtained by applying the cell-to-cell mapping method to solve the problem of the time-optimal trajectory planning for coordinated multiple robotic arms handling a common object along a specified geometric path. Based on the structure of the time-optimal trajectory control law, the continuous dynamic model of multiple arms is first approximated by a discrete and finite cell-to-cell mapping on a two-dimensional cell space over a phase plane. The optimal trajectory and the corresponding control are then determined by using the cell-to-cell mapping and a simple search algorithm. To further improve the computational efficiency and to allow for parallel computation, a hierarchical search algorithm consisting of a multiple-variable optimization on the top level and a number of cell-to-cell searches on the bottom level is proposed and implemented in the paper. Besides its simplicity, another distinguishing feature of the cell-to-cell mapping methods is the generation of all optimal trajectories for a given final state and all possible initial states through a single searching process. For most of the existing trajectory planning methods, the planning process can be started only when both the initial and final states have been specified. The cell-to-cell method can be generalized to any optimal trajectory planning problem for a multiple robotic arms system.     

Determination of the world surface of a relativistic string from the trajectory of a massive end

It is shown that the world surface of a relativistic string can be uniquely recovered from the trajectory of a massive end of it if the trajectory is specified in Minkowski space in the form of an arbitrary curve of constant curvature with timelike tangent vector. Conditions are determined for the existence on the world surface of a line that can be identified with the trajectory of the other end of the string and also for the possibility of physical realization of the model in the case when there is no such line.State University, Tver. Translated from Teoreticheskayi i Matematicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 102, No. 1, pp. 150–159, January, 1995.     

Optimal boundary control by displacement at one end of a string under a given elastic force at the other end

The problem of optimal boundary control by displacement at one end of a string under a specified force mode at the other end is studied in the sense of a generalized solution of the corresponding mixed initial-boundary value problem from a Sobolev space. The problem of choosing an optimal boundary control from an infinite number of admissible controls is solved. A generalized solution of the mixed initial-boundary value problem is constructed explicitly and the uniqueness of the solution is proved.     

Decomposition technique for minimum time trajectories

A decomposition technique is presented for minimum-time trajectories which are characterized by intermediate constraints and discontinuities. The optimization of such multiple are trajectories is usually a formidable task. One optimization method, trajectory decomposition, breaks the original trajectory at points of discontinuity into separate arcs and then optimizes each are subject to prescribed boundary conditions. This constitutes a first level of control. Each first-level solution is evaluated by a second-level controller, which iteratively specifies new are boundary conditions in order to achieve an optimum solution. Unfortunately, this two-level method cannot be applied directly to minimum-time trajectories. The two-level trajectory decomposition method is extended here to a three-level technique for treating the minimum-time trajectory. The first level again optimizes each are for specified intervention parameters. The new second level, the time interface controller, exploits certain homogeneity properties to satisfy time transversality conditions at all boundaries and to couple the first-level solution arcs in time. The third level, the state interface controller, satisfies state transversality conditions at the arc junctions iteratively while driving the trajectory to its optimum. The new three-level procedure represents a feasible decomposition because each solution trajectory in the iterative sequence is physically realizable. The technique also offers a decentralization of control effort and reduction of initial-value sensitivities. An example problem is formulated.     

Problems of maximizing the compliance of curvilinear rods

A number of problems of finding the shape of a thin curvilinear rod (the support element of an artificial lens) of constant cross-section and specified length with its ends at specified points and under specified loading conditions with maximum compliance for characteristic types of end restraint and loading are considered. It is shown that the boundary-value problem arising for the non-linear Euler equation may have a set (possibly denumerable) of solutions, one of which gives the absolute maximum compliance, and the others the local maxima. The problem is analysed in detail, analytical solutions are obtained and the corresponding shapes are constructed in a number of important cases.     

Generalized Trajectory Methods for Finding Multiple Extrema and Roots of Functions

Two generalized trajectory methods are combined to provide a novel and powerful numerical procedure for systematically finding multiple local extrema of a multivariable objective function. This procedure can form part of a strategy for global optimization in which the greatest local maximum and least local minimum in the interior of a specified region are compared to the largest and smallest values of the objective function on the boundary of the region. The first trajectory method, a homotopy scheme, provides a globally convergent algorithm to find a stationary point of the objective function. The second trajectory method, a relaxation scheme, starts at one stationary point and systematically connects other stationary points in the specified region by a network of trjectories. It is noted that both generalized trajectory methods actually solve the stationarity conditions, and so they can also be used to find multiple roots of a set of nonlinear equations.     

Numerical Computation of Optimal Trajectories for Coplanar, Aeroassisted Orbital Transfer

This paper is concerned with the problem of the optimal coplanaraeroassisted orbital transfer of a spacecraft from a high Earth orbitto a low Earth orbit. It is assumed that the initial and final orbits arecircular and that the gravitational field is central and is governed by theinverse square law. The whole trajectory is assumed to consist of twoimpulsive velocity changes at the begin and end of one interior atmosphericsubarc, where the vehicle is controlled via the lift coefficient.The problem is reduced to the atmospheric part of the trajectory, thusarriving at an optimal control problem with free final time and liftcoefficient as the only (bounded) control variable. For this problem,the necessary conditions of optimal control theory are derived. Applyingmultiple shooting techniques, two trajectories with different controlstructures are computed. The first trajectory is characterized by a liftcoefficient at its minimum value during the whole atmospheric pass. For thesecond trajectory, an optimal control history with a boundary subarcfollowed by a free subarc is chosen. It turns out, that this secondtrajectory satisfies the minimum principle, whereas the first one fails tosatisfy this necessary condition; nevertheless, the characteristicvelocities of the two trajectories differ only in the sixth significantdigit.In the second part of the paper, the assumption of impulsive velocitychanges is dropped. Instead, a more realistic modeling with twofinite-thrust subarcs in the nonatmospheric part of the trajectory isconsidered. The resulting optimal control problem now describes the wholemaneuver including the nonatmospheric parts. It contains as controlvariables the thrust, thrust angle, and lift coefficient. Further,the mass of the vehicle is treated as an additional state variable. For thisoptimal control problem, numerical solutions are presented. They are comparedwith the solutions of the impulsive model.     

Adaptive control of kinematically redundant robots

A redundant robot has more degrees of freedom than those neededto position the Robert end-effector uniquely. In a usual robotictask, only end-effector position trajectory is specified. Thejoint position trajectory is unknown, and it must be selectedfrom a self-motion manifold for a specified end-effector. Inmany situations, the robot dynamic parameters such as the linkmass, inertia, and joint viscous friction are unknown. The lackof knowledge of the joint trajectory and the dynamic parametersmake it difficult to control redundant robots. In this paper we show, through careful formulation of the problem,that the adaptative control of redundant robots can be addressedas a reference-velocity traking problem in the joint space.A control law ensures bounded estimation of the unknown dynamicparameters of the robot, and the convergence to zero of thevelocity traking error is derived. To ensure the joint motionon the self-motion manifold remains bounded, a homeomorphictransformation is found. This transformation decomposes thedynamics of the velocity tracking error into a cascade systemconsisting of the dynamics in the end-effector error coordinatesand the dynamics on the self-motion manifold. The dynamics onthe self-motion manifold is shown to be related to the conceptof zero dynamics. In the shown that, if the reference jointtrajectory is selected to optimize a certain type of objectivefunction, then stable dynamics on the self-motion manifold result.This ensures the overall stability of the adaptive system. Detailedsimulations are given to test the theoretical developments.The proposed adaptive scheme does not require measurements ofthe joint acceleration or the inversion of the inertia matrixof the robot.     

The optimization of a guaranteed result with a delay in the control

The problem of feedback control with a quality index in the form of the Euclidean norm of a set of deviations of the trajectory of motion of the system from the origin of coordinates at specified instants of time is considered for a linear dynamical system that is subjected to the effects of noise and contains a delay in the control element. A procedure for calculating the value of the optimal guaranteed result based on the recursive construction of upper convex hulls of auxiliary functions is given. A method for shaping the controlling actions that guarantee the achievement of this result is described.     

Optimal control for quasi-linear systems with small parameters

We consider the controlled systems where the non-linear term is multiplied by a small scalar parameter ε. In the class of these quasi-linear systems, we shall determine the control and optimal trajectory which minimizes the index of performance represented by quadratics functionals. The initial and final conditions are specified and the final time is free. The presence of the small parameter leads to an approximate solution of the formulated problem of optimum. Thus, the zeroth-order solution is obtained for ε=0. The first order solution results by using the sweep method which determines the perturbation of the control and of the state variable on the optimal neighboring trajectory.     

Control of mechanical systems with uncertain parameters by means of small forces

An approach to the construction of a feedback control for non-linear Lagrange mechanical systems with uncertain parameters is developed. A Lagrange mechanical system with uncertain parameters, which is subject to the action of potential forces, control forces and unknown perturbations is considered is considered. It is assumed that the potential forces can be considerably greater than the control forces which, in their turn, are greater than the perturbations. An approach to the construction of a control, is proposed which enables one to bring a system from an arbitrary initial state to a specified final state in a finite time using a bounded control. A procedure, in which the specified nominal trajectory of the motion is tracked, is used. Initially, the trajectory, joining the specified initial and final states of the system, is constructed for a certain dynamical system which is close to the initial system but with completely known parameters. Then, using deviation equations, a control is constructed which brings the initial system onto this nominal trajectory in a finite time and subsequently forces the system to move along this nominal trajectory up to the final state. The control law used in tracking the nominal trajectory is based on a linear feedback, the gains of which depends on the discrepancy between the real trajectory and the nominal trajectory. The gain increase and tend to infinity as the discrepancies tend to zero but the control forces remain bounded and satisfy the conditions imposed on them. The results of numerical modelling of the controlled motions of a plane double pendulum are presented as an illustration.     

On the optimal control of linear systems with linear performance criterion and constraints

We suggest an analytical-numerical method for solving a boundary value optimal control problem with state, integral, and control constraints. The embedding principle underlying the method is based on the general solution of a Fredholm integral equation of the first kind and its analytic representation; the method permits one to reduce the boundary value optimal control problem with constraints to an optimization problem with free right end of the trajectory.     

A theorem on existence of neighbouring trajectories satisfying a state constraint, with applications to optimal control

Simple directly verifiable conditions are derived under whichthere exists a state trajectory satisfying a specified stateconstraint. The conclusions differ from the kind of informationprovided by viability and invariance-type theorems, insofaras an estimate is provided of the distance (in the supremumnorm) of the state trajectory from a specified state trajectory,in terms of the degree to which the specified state trajectoryviolates the state constraint. The constructions involved inthe existence proof are related to ones previously employedby Soner to establish continuity properties of a value functionarising in infinite-horizon state-constrained optimal control,but the accompanying analysis contains refinements to ensurea sub-Lipschitz property of the value function considered here.It is expected that this existence result will have a numberof implications for systems theory and optimal control. Herewe show how it leads to a non-degenerate maximum principle forstate-constrained optimal-control problems, in situations wherethe standard necessary conditions give no useful informationabout minimizers. Email: rampazzo{at}pdmat1.unipd.it Email: r.vinter{at}ic.ac.uk     

On the Motion of Agents across Terrain with Obstacles

The paper is devoted to finding the time optimal route of an agent travelling across a region from a given source point to a given target point. At each point of this region, a maximum allowed speed is specified. This speed limit may vary in time. The continuous statement of this problem and the case when the agent travels on a grid with square cells are considered. In the latter case, the time is also discrete, and the number of admissible directions of motion at each point in time is eight. The existence of an optimal solution of this problem is proved, and estimates of the approximate solution obtained on the grid are obtained. It is found that decreasing the size of cells below a certain limit does not further improve the approximation. These results can be used to estimate the quasi-optimal trajectory of the agent motion across the rugged terrain produced by an algorithm based on a cellular automaton that was earlier developed by the author.     

Minimum norm approach to optimal long-term operation of multireservoir power systems with specified monthly generation

The aim of this paper is to present a new algorithm to maximize the value of the energy produced from a multireservoir power system, plus the estimated value of water remaining in storage at the end of the 12-month planning period. The systems described here are characterized by having a specified monthly generation, and this generation is equal to a certain percentage of the total generation at the end of the year.The problem is formulated as a minimum norm problem in the framework of analytic optimization. Numerical results are reported for a real system in operation consisting of three rivers; each river has two series reservoirs. The proposed algorithm is efficient in computing time and in calculating the total expected benefits from the system.This work was supported by the National Research Council of Canada, Grant No. A4146. The authors would like to acknowledge data obtained from B.C. Hydro, Vancouver, B.C., Canada.     

On the efficiency of optimal grid synthesis in optimal control problems with fixed terminal time

In the paper, we consider nonlinear optimal control problems with the Bolza functional and with fixed terminal time. We suggest a construction of optimal grid synthesis. For each initial state of the control system, we obtain an estimate for the difference between the optimal result and the value of the functional on the trajectory generated by the suggested grid positional control. The considered feedback control constructions and the estimates of their efficiency are based on a backward dynamic programming procedure. We also use necessary and sufficient optimality conditions in terms of characteristics of the Bellman equation and the sub-differential of the minimax viscosity solution of this equation in the Cauchy problem specified for the fixed terminal time. The results are illustrated by the numerical solution of a nonlinear optimal control problem.     

Optimal body design using localized interaction models

The problem of the designing bodies of minimum drag for a specified area of the base and a specified area of the (“windward”) surface around which the flow occurs is considered in the approximation of an arbitrary localized interaction model. New necessary conditions for minimum drag are obtained which are stronger than the Legendre condition. It is shown that, in the approximation used, the optimal configurations in the general case contain end faces and cylindrical segments of the boundary extremum, which appear due to the existence of limits of applicability of local models. It is established that the solutions previously obtained are incomplete. A complete solution of the problem is constructed.