Related papers: Convexified Open-Loop Stochastic Optimal Control f…
We introduce a semidefinite relaxation for optimal control of linear systems with time scaling. These problems are inherently nonconvex, since the system dynamics involves bilinear products between the discretization time step and the…
In this contribution, we introduce an efficient method for solving the optimal control problem for an unconstrained nonlinear switched system with an arbitrary cost function. We assume that the sequence of the switching modes are given but…
This paper develops a method to learn optimal controls from data for bilinear systems without a priori knowledge of the system dynamics. Given an unknown bilinear system, we first characterize when the available data is suitable to solve…
We consider the problem of designing a feedback controller for a multivariable linear time-invariant system which regulates an arbitrary system output to the solution of an equality-constrained convex optimization problem despite unknown…
As we aim to control complex systems, use of a simulator in model-based reinforcement learning is becoming more common. However, it has been challenging to overcome the Reality Gap, which comes from nonlinear model bias and susceptibility…
This paper investigates the robust optimal control of sampled-data stochastic systems with multiplicative noise and distributional ambiguity. We consider a class of discrete-time optimal control problems where the controller \emph{jointly}…
Non-convex optimization plays a key role in a growing number of machine learning applications. This motivates the identification of specialized structure that enables sharper theoretical analysis. One such identified structure is…
Efficient methods to provide sub-optimal solutions to non-convex optimization problems with knowledge of the solution's sub-optimality would facilitate the widespread application of nonlinear optimal control algorithms. To that end,…
In this paper we present a novel sampling-based numerical scheme designed to solve a certain class of stochastic optimal control problems, utilizing forward and backward stochastic differential equations (FBSDEs). By means of a nonlinear…
This article investigates the problem of controlling linear time-invariant systems subject to time-varying and a priori unknown cost functions, state and input constraints, and exogenous disturbances. We combine the online convex…
Recently, literature on dynamic coherent risk measures has broadened the choices for risk-sensitive performance evaluation. A running example includes Cumulative prospect theory and Conditional variance at risk. Most of them can be can be…
A stochastic procedure is developed which allows one to express Pontryagin's maximum principle for dissipative quantum system solely in terms of stochastic wave functions. Time-optimal controls can be efficiently computed without computing…
This article presents a constrained policy optimization approach for the optimal control of systems under nonstationary uncertainties. We introduce an assumption that we call Markov embeddability that allows us to cast the stochastic…
This paper presents a new fast and robust algorithm that provides fuel-optimal impulsive control input sequences that drive a linear time-variant system to a desired state at a specified time. This algorithm is applicable to a broad class…
This work presents a convex-optimization-based framework for analysis and control of nonlinear partial differential equations. The approach uses a particular weak embedding of the nonlinear PDE, resulting in a linear equation in the space…
We consider the problem of finite-horizon optimal control design under uncertainty for imperfectly observed discrete-time systems with convex costs and constraints. It is known that this problem can be cast as an infinite-dimensional convex…
In this paper, we consider a varying terminal time structure for the stochastic optimal control problem under state constraints, in which the terminal time varies with the mean value of the state. In this new stochastic optimal control…
We propose an approach to trajectory optimization for piecewise polynomial systems based on the recently proposed graphs of convex sets framework. We instantiate the framework with a convex relaxation of optimal control based on occupation…
In this paper, we propose a stochastic optimization method that adaptively controls the sample size used in the computation of gradient approximations. Unlike other variance reduction techniques that either require additional storage or the…
In this paper we present a new steepest-descent type algorithm for convex optimization problems. Our algorithm pieces the unknown into sub-blocs of unknowns and considers a partial optimization over each sub-bloc. In quadratic optimization,…