Sequential quadratic programming methods for optimal control problems with state constraints

Abstract

A kind of direct methods is presented for the solution of optimal control problems with state constraints. These methods are sequential quadratic programming methods. At every iteration a quadratic programming which is obtained by quadratic approximation to Lagrangian function and linear approximations to constraints is solved to get a search direction for a merit function. The merit function is formulated by augmenting the Lagrangian function with a penalty term. A line search is carried out along the search direction to determine a step length such that the merit function is decreased. The methods presented in this paper include continuous sequential quadratic programming methods and discreate sequential quadratic programming methods.