Robust Optimal Control for Nonlinear Systems with Parametric Uncertainties via System Level Synthesis

Understand

This paper addresses the problem of optimally controlling nonlinear systems with norm-bounded disturbances and parametric uncertainties while robustly satisfying constraints.

• The proposed approach jointly optimizes a nominal nonlinear trajectory and an error feedback, requiring minimal offline design effort and offering low conservatism.
• This is achieved by decomposing the affine-in-the-parameter uncertain nonlinear system into a nominal $\textit{nonlinear}$ system and an uncertain linear time-varying system.
• Using this decomposition, we can apply established tools from system level synthesis to $\textit{convexly}$ over-bound all uncertainties in the nonlinear optimization problem.