Spatio-temporal constrained zonotopes for validation of optimal control problems *

A controlled system subject to dynamics with unknown but bounded parameters is considered. The control is defined as the solution of an optimal control problem, which induces hybrid dynamics. A method to enclose all optimal trajectories of this system is proposed. Using interval and zonotope based validated simulation and Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle, a characterization of optimal trajectories, a conservative enclosure is constructed. The usual validated simulation framework is modified so that possible trajectories are enclosed with spatio-temporal zonotopes that simplify simulation through events. Then optimality conditions are propagated backward in time and added as constraints on the previously computed enclosure. The obtained constrained zonotopes form a thin enclosure of all optimal trajectories that is less susceptible to accumulation of error. This algorithm is applied on Goddard’s problem, an aerospace problem with a bang-bang control.