On the problem of optimal rendezvous for a nonzero duration

A rendezvous problem of two linear controlled systems is investigated. The two systems are required to rendezvous with each other during a given nonzero time interval. A necessary condition and a sufficient condition are obtained.The authors thank the referee for his valuable comments which resulted in improving the paper.     

Near-Optimal Controls of a Class of Volterra Integral Systems

In a recent paper by Zhou (Ref. 1), the concept of near-optimal controls was introduced for a class of optimal control problems involving ordinary differential equations. Necessary and sufficient conditions for near-optimal controls were derived. This paper extends the results obtained by Zhou to a class of optimal control problems involving Volterra integral equations. The results are applied to study near-optimal controls obtained by the control parametrization method.     

Sufficient conditions for asymptotic optimal control

For a selected family of Lagrange-type control problems involving a nonnegative integral costJ _T (y,u) over the interval [0,T], 0<T<, with system conditions consisting of differential inequalities and/or equalities, the following material is treated: (i) a resumé of relevant necessary conditions and sufficient conditions for a pair (y _T ,u _T ) to minimizeJ _T (y,u); (ii) conditions sufficient for the convergence asT of minimizing pairs (y _T ,u _T ) over [0,T] to a limit pair (y ,u ) over the infinite-time interval [0, ); (iii) conditions sufficient for (y ,u ) to minimize the costJ (y,u) over [0, ); and (iv) conditions sufficient for the optimal cost per unit timeJ _T (y _T ,u _T )/T to have a limit asT.     

No-gap optimality conditions for an optimal control problem with pointwise control-state constraints

An optimal control problem with pointwise mixed constraints of the instationary three-dimensional Navier–Stokes–Voigt equations is considered. We derive second-order optimality conditions and show that there is no gap between second-order necessary optimality conditions and second-order sufficient optimality conditions. In addition, the second-order sufficient optimality conditions for the problem where the objective functional does not contain a Tikhonov regularization term are also discussed.     

Necessary and sufficient conditions for distinguishability of linear control systems

Distinguishability plays a crucial rule in studying observability of hybrid system such as switched system. Recently, for two linear systems, Lou and Si gave a condition not only necessary but also sufficient to the distinguishability of linear systems. However, the condition is not easy enough to verify. This paper will give a new equivalent condition which is relatively easy to verify.     

Jacobi condition for elliptic forms in Hilbert spaces

In this paper, we give the definitions of conjugate and semi-conjugate points for a quadratic elliptic form in a Hilbert space, and we state the corresponding necessary and sufficient conditions (the Jacobi conditions) for the form to be positive (nonnegative). We apply the abstract results to a one-dimensional problem in the calculus of variations where both endpoints are allowed to vary. The conditions that we obtain complete and generalize previously known results.This research was partly supported by MURST Research Grant, Teoria del Controllo dei Sistemi Dinamici.     

Uniformly overtaking and weakly overtaking optimal solutions in infinite-horizon optimal control: When optimal solutions are agreeable

In this paper, we investigate the relationship between two classes of optimality which have arisen in the study of dynamic optimization problems defined on an infinite-time domain. We utilize an optimal control framework to discuss our results. In particular, we establish relationships between limiting objective functional type optimality concepts, commonly known as overtaking optimality and weakly overtaking optimality, and the finite-horizon solution concepts of decision-horizon optimality and agreeable plans. Our results show that both classes of optimality are implied by corresponding uniform limiting objective functional type optimality concepts, referred to here as uniformly overtaking optimality and uniformly weakly overtaking optimality. This observation permits us to extract sufficient conditions for optimality from known sufficient conditions for overtaking and weakly overtaking optimality by strengthening their hypotheses. These results take the form of a strengthened maximum principle. Examples are given to show that the hypotheses of these results can be realized.This research was supported by the National Science Foundation, Grant No. DMS-87-00706, and by the Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Summer Research Fellowship Program.     

Optimal control computation for parabolic systems with boundary conditions involving time delays

In this paper, we consider a class of optimal control problems involving a second-order, linear parabolic partial differential equation with Neumann boundary conditions. The time-delayed arguments are assumed to appear in the boundary conditions. A necessary and sufficient condition for optimality is derived, and an iterative method for solving this optimal control problem is proposed. The convergence property of this iterative method is also investigated.On the basis of a finite-element Galerkin's scheme, we convert the original distributed optimal control problem into a sequence of approximate problems involving only lumped-parameter systems. A computational algorithm is then developed for each of these approximate problems. For illustration, a one-dimensional example is solved.     

Geometric methods for nonlinear optimal control problems

It is the purpose of this paper to develop and present new approaches to optimal control problems for which the state evolution equation is nonlinear. For bilinear systems in which the evolution equation is right invariant, it is possible to use ideas from differential geometry and Lie theory to obtain explicit closed-form solutions.The author wishes to thank Professor A. Krener for many stimulating discussions and in particular for suggesting Theorem 3.3. Also, special thanks are due to the author's thesis advisor Professor R. W. Brockett under whose direction most of the research was done. Finally, the author thanks two anonymous referees for suggestions which have improved the exposition.     

Direct relaxation of optimal layout problems for plates

This paper suggests an application of a direct procedure initiated in Ref. 1 to problems of optimal layout for plates. Optimal microstructures are explicity indicated for a number of special cases, particularly for the case where the original and conjugate strain tensors are coaxial.This paper is dedicated to Professor Frithiof I. Niordson on the occasion of his 70th birthday. The research has been supported by AFOSR Grant No. 90-0268 and NSF Grant DMS-93-058040. The author acknowledges fruitful discussions with Andrei V. Cherkaev, Leonid V. Gibiansky, and Robert P. Lipton.     

Mixed constraints in optimal control: an implicit function theorem approach

^** Email: mrpinho{at}fe.up.pt^*** Corresponding author. Email: jfrl{at}servidor.unam.mx This paper concerns a derivation of second-order necessary conditionsfor a fixed-endpoint control problem of Lagrange involving mixedequality and/or inequality constraints, posed over piecewisecontinuous controls. These conditions are obtained in a clearand transparent way by reducing the original problem, throughan implicit function theorem approach, to an unconstrained controlproblem.     

Structure of minimizers in linear-quadratic Bolza problems of optimal control

In this paper, we study intersections of extremals in a linear-quadratic Bolza problem of optimal control. The structure of the inter-sections is described. We show that this structure implies the semipositive definiteness of the quadratic cost functional. In addition, we derive necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of minimizers.     

Reduction of delayed optimal control problems to nondelayed problems

A method is exhibited which transforms a large class of optimal control problems with fixed delays to nondelayed problems, thus permitting classical results to be used in their analysis.     

Minimizing sequences in optimal control with approximately given input data and the regularizing properties of the Pontryagin maximum principle

Results related to the optimal control theory for systems with approximately given input data are presented. The basic (desired) element in the theory is the minimizing sequence of feasible controls rather than the classical optimal control. Necessary and sufficient conditions for minimizing sequences are established. The regularizing properties of the Pontryagin maximum principle and of minimizing sequences are discussed. Three basic regularization levels are singled out that are characteristic of any optimal control problem. The stability of the optimal value in a problem depending on the constraint parameter is discussed. Illustrative examples are considered in detail.     

Reduction of delayed optimal control problems to nondelayed problems

Typographical errors are corrected in Ref. 1.     

Maximum principle for the optimal control of a hyperbolic equation in one space dimension,part 1: Theory

A maximum principle is developed for a class of problems involving the optimal control of a damped-parameter system governed by a linear hyperbolic equation in one space dimension that is not necessarily separable. A convex index of performance is formulated, which consists of functionals of the state variable, its first- and second-order space derivatives, its first-order time derivative, and a penalty functional involving the open-loop control force. The solution of the optimal control problem is shown to be unique. The adjoint operator is determined, and a maximum principle relating the control function to the adjoint variable is stated. The proof of the maximum principle is given with the help of convexity arguments. The maximum principle can be used to compute the optimal control function and is particularly suitable for problems involving the active control of structural elements for vibration suppression.     

An applied cell mapping method for optimal control problems

From the application point of view, a series of modifications are proposed for the cell mapping method discussed in Ref. 1 for the optimal control analysis of dynamical systems. The cell order around the target set is rearranged. A set of common discriminate principles is used for the selection of the optimal one among competing control strategies of the same cost. Inequality constraints of the system are taken into account. The number of elements in the set of allowable time intervals is not prescribed, but left open. These modifications seem to make the cell mapping method more efficient for analyzing feedback systems and for obtaining their global optimal control information. The algorithms presented in this paper could broaden the application of the cell mapping approach of Ref. 1 to a wider class of engineering problems.     

Second-order conditions in stability analysis for state constrained optimal control

The paper presents an outline of the stability results, for state-constrained optimal control problems, recently obtained in Malanowski (Appl. Math. Optim. 55, 255–271, 2007), Malanowski (Optimization, to be published), Malanowski (SIAM J. Optim., to be published). The pricipal novelty of the results is a weakening of the second-order sufficient optimality conditions, under which the solutions and the Lagrange multipliers are locally Lipschitz continuous functions of the parameter. The conditions are weakened by taking into account strongly active state constraints.