160,188 research outputs found
Combining Homotopy Methods and Numerical Optimal Control to Solve Motion Planning Problems
This paper presents a systematic approach for computing local solutions to
motion planning problems in non-convex environments using numerical optimal
control techniques. It extends the range of use of state-of-the-art numerical
optimal control tools to problem classes where these tools have previously not
been applicable. Today these problems are typically solved using motion
planners based on randomized or graph search. The general principle is to
define a homotopy that perturbs, or preferably relaxes, the original problem to
an easily solved problem. By combining a Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP)
method with a homotopy approach that gradually transforms the problem from a
relaxed one to the original one, practically relevant locally optimal solutions
to the motion planning problem can be computed. The approach is demonstrated in
motion planning problems in challenging 2D and 3D environments, where the
presented method significantly outperforms a state-of-the-art open-source
optimizing sampled-based planner commonly used as benchmark
Order reduction methods for solving large-scale differential matrix Riccati equations
We consider the numerical solution of large-scale symmetric differential
matrix Riccati equations. Under certain hypotheses on the data, reduced order
methods have recently arisen as a promising class of solution strategies, by
forming low-rank approximations to the sought after solution at selected
timesteps. We show that great computational and memory savings are obtained by
a reduction process onto rational Krylov subspaces, as opposed to current
approaches. By specifically addressing the solution of the reduced differential
equation and reliable stopping criteria, we are able to obtain accurate final
approximations at low memory and computational requirements. This is obtained
by employing a two-phase strategy that separately enhances the accuracy of the
algebraic approximation and the time integration. The new method allows us to
numerically solve much larger problems than in the current literature.
Numerical experiments on benchmark problems illustrate the effectiveness of the
procedure with respect to existing solvers
A space-time pseudospectral discretization method for solving diffusion optimal control problems with two-sided fractional derivatives
We propose a direct numerical method for the solution of an optimal control
problem governed by a two-side space-fractional diffusion equation. The
presented method contains two main steps. In the first step, the space variable
is discretized by using the Jacobi-Gauss pseudospectral discretization and, in
this way, the original problem is transformed into a classical integer-order
optimal control problem. The main challenge, which we faced in this step, is to
derive the left and right fractional differentiation matrices. In this respect,
novel techniques for derivation of these matrices are presented. In the second
step, the Legendre-Gauss-Radau pseudospectral method is employed. With these
two steps, the original problem is converted into a convex quadratic
optimization problem, which can be solved efficiently by available methods. Our
approach can be easily implemented and extended to cover fractional optimal
control problems with state constraints. Five test examples are provided to
demonstrate the efficiency and validity of the presented method. The results
show that our method reaches the solutions with good accuracy and a low CPU
time.Comment: This is a preprint of a paper whose final and definite form is with
'Journal of Vibration and Control', available from
[http://journals.sagepub.com/home/jvc]. Submitted 02-June-2018; Revised
03-Sept-2018; Accepted 12-Oct-201
A numerical comparison of solvers for large-scale, continuous-time algebraic Riccati equations and LQR problems
In this paper, we discuss numerical methods for solving large-scale
continuous-time algebraic Riccati equations. These methods have been the focus
of intensive research in recent years, and significant progress has been made
in both the theoretical understanding and efficient implementation of various
competing algorithms. There are several goals of this manuscript: first, to
gather in one place an overview of different approaches for solving large-scale
Riccati equations, and to point to the recent advances in each of them. Second,
to analyze and compare the main computational ingredients of these algorithms,
to detect their strong points and their potential bottlenecks. And finally, to
compare the effective implementations of all methods on a set of relevant
benchmark examples, giving an indication of their relative performance
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