Preconditioned Continuation Model Predictive Control

Model predictive control (MPC) anticipates future events to take appropriate control actions. Nonlinear MPC (NMPC) describes systems with nonlinear models and/or constraints. A Continuation/GMRES Method for NMPC, suggested by T. Ohtsuka in 2004, uses the GMRES iterative algorithm to solve a forward difference approximation $Ax=b$ of the Continuation NMPC (CNMPC) equations on every time step. The coefficient matrix $A$ of the linear system is often ill-conditioned, resulting in poor GMRES convergence, slowing down the on-line computation of the control by CNMPC, and reducing control quality. We adopt CNMPC for challenging minimum-time problems, and improve performance by introducing efficient preconditioning, utilizing parallel computing, and substituting MINRES for GMRES.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures. To appear in Proceedings SIAM Conference on Control and Its Applications, July 8-10, 2015, Paris, Franc

Adjoint-based predictor-corrector sequential convex programming for parametric nonlinear optimization

This paper proposes an algorithmic framework for solving parametric optimization problems which we call adjoint-based predictor-corrector sequential convex programming. After presenting the algorithm, we prove a contraction estimate that guarantees the tracking performance of the algorithm. Two variants of this algorithm are investigated. The first one can be used to solve nonlinear programming problems while the second variant is aimed to treat online parametric nonlinear programming problems. The local convergence of these variants is proved. An application to a large-scale benchmark problem that originates from nonlinear model predictive control of a hydro power plant is implemented to examine the performance of the algorithms.Comment: This manuscript consists of 25 pages and 7 figure

Sparse preconditioning for model predictive control

We propose fast O(N) preconditioning, where N is the number of gridpoints on the prediction horizon, for iterative solution of (non)-linear systems appearing in model predictive control methods such as forward-difference Newton-Krylov methods. The Continuation/GMRES method for nonlinear model predictive control, suggested by T. Ohtsuka in 2004, is a specific application of the Newton-Krylov method, which uses the GMRES iterative algorithm to solve a forward difference approximation of the optimality equations on every time step.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, to appear in proceedings of the American Control Conference 2016, July 6-8, Boston, MA, USA. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1509.0286