Iterative learning control (ILC) can yield superior performance for repetitive tasks while only requiring approximate models, making this control strategy very appealing for industry. However, applying it to non-linear systems involves solving of optimization problems, which limits the industrial uptake, especially for learning online to compensate for variations throughout the system’s lifetime. Industry tackles this by designing simple rule-based learning controllers. However, these are often designed in an ad-hoc manner, which potentially limits performance. In this paper, we will couple a low-dimensional parametrized learning control algorithm with a generic signal parametrization method on the basis of machine learning, and specifically using autoencoders. This will allow high control performance, while limiting implementational complexity and maintaining interpretability, paving the way for a higher industrial uptake of learning control for non-linear systems. We will illustrate the parametrized approach in simulation on a non-linear slider-crank system, and provide an example of using the learning approach to perform a tracking task for this system.
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