Abstract: Treating optimal control problems numerically is best done via direct solution methods such as multiple-shooting or direct collocation. In both methods, the nonlinear dynamics underlying the problem are treated via numerical integration. In this talk, we will first see some recent progresses on numerical integration methods specifically designed to treat “difficult” dynamics in the context of real-time optimal control. Multiple-shooting or direct collocation are often considered as competing methods for numerical optimal control, with different advantages and drawbacks. In this talk, we will introduce recent observations that lead to establish a strict equivalence between the two methods and offer new opportunities for treating direct collocation formulations via inexact Newton methods. In the second part of the talk, we will briefly approach some novel considerations on the treatment of robust and distributed MPC problems via decomposition methods. We will present some recent experiments using real-time distributed MPC for the coordination of road intersection.
Bio: Sebastien Gros received his Ph.D degree from EPFL, Switzerland, in 2007. He joined a R&D group hosted at Strathclyde University focusing on wind turbine control in 2010. In 2011, he joined the university of KU Leuven, where his main research focus was on optimal control and fast NMPC. He joined the Department of Signals and Systems at Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg in 2013, where he is currently an Associate Professor. His main research interests includes numerical methods, real-time optimal control for energy-related applications, and the optimal control of complex mechanical systems.