A discrete method of optimal control based upon the cell state space concept (Q799556)

A discrete method of optimal control is proposed. The continuum state space of a system is discretized into a cell state space, and the cost function is discretized in a similar manner. Assuming intervalwise constant controls and using a finite set of admissible control levels (u) and a finite set of admissible time intervals (\(\tau)\), the motion of the system under all possible interval controls (u,\(\tau)\) can then be expressed in terms of a family of cell-to-cell mappings. The proposed method extracts the optimal control results from these mappings by a systematic search, culminating in the construction of a discrete optimal control table. The possibility of expressing the optimal results in the form of a control table seems to give this method a means to make systems real-time controllable.