DATA-DRIVEN PRONTO: a Model-free Solution for Numerical Optimal Control

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Borghesi, Marco, Sforni, Lorenzo, Notarstefano, Giuseppe
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Borghesi, Marco
Sforni, Lorenzo
Notarstefano, Giuseppe
author_facet Borghesi, Marco
Sforni, Lorenzo
Notarstefano, Giuseppe
contents This article addresses the problem of data-driven numerical optimal control for unknown nonlinear systems. In our scenario, we suppose to have the possibility of performing multiple experiments (or simulations) on the system. Experiments are performed by relying on a data-driven tracking controller able to steer the system towards a desired reference. Our proposed DATA-DRIVEN PRONTO algorithm iteratively refines a tentative solution of the optimal control problem by computing an approximate descent direction via a local trajectory perturbation. At each iteration, multiple trajectories are gathered by perturbing the current trajectory with a suitable dither signal, and then used to obtain a data-driven, time-varying linearization. The exploration is guided by the tracking controller, so that perturbed trajectories are obtained in closed loop. We show local convergence of DATA-DRIVEN PRONTO to a ball about an isolated optimal solution, whose radius depends on the amplitude of the dither signal. We corroborate the theoretical results by applying it to an underactuated robot.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_15465
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle DATA-DRIVEN PRONTO: a Model-free Solution for Numerical Optimal Control
Borghesi, Marco
Sforni, Lorenzo
Notarstefano, Giuseppe
Systems and Control
This article addresses the problem of data-driven numerical optimal control for unknown nonlinear systems. In our scenario, we suppose to have the possibility of performing multiple experiments (or simulations) on the system. Experiments are performed by relying on a data-driven tracking controller able to steer the system towards a desired reference. Our proposed DATA-DRIVEN PRONTO algorithm iteratively refines a tentative solution of the optimal control problem by computing an approximate descent direction via a local trajectory perturbation. At each iteration, multiple trajectories are gathered by perturbing the current trajectory with a suitable dither signal, and then used to obtain a data-driven, time-varying linearization. The exploration is guided by the tracking controller, so that perturbed trajectories are obtained in closed loop. We show local convergence of DATA-DRIVEN PRONTO to a ball about an isolated optimal solution, whose radius depends on the amplitude of the dither signal. We corroborate the theoretical results by applying it to an underactuated robot.
title DATA-DRIVEN PRONTO: a Model-free Solution for Numerical Optimal Control
topic Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.15465