Discrete Optimal Control of Interconnected Mechanical Systems
Provides a unified variational framework for optimal control of underactuated mechanical systems, but the contribution is incremental as it applies existing discrete mechanics theory to a specific system class.
The paper develops variational integrators for underactuated mechanical systems and formulates a discrete optimal control problem solved via variational principles, demonstrated on benchmark systems with numerical simulations.
This article develops variational integrators for a class of underactuated mechanical systems using the theory of discrete mechanics. Further, a discrete optimal control problem is formulated for the considered class of systems and subsequently solved using variational principles again, to obtain necessary conditions that characterize optimal trajectories. The proposed approach is demonstrated on benchmark underactuated systems and accompanied by numerical simulations.