17/11/2020 – 16h00-17h00 – En ligne
Towards Principled Algorithms for Stochastic Optimal Control of Nonlinear Dynamical Systems
Riccardo Bonalli (Autonomous System Labs, Stanford University, US)
Abstract. Nowadays, achieving efficient computations of optimal trajectories for dynamical systems represents a hard problem. In particular, the presence of nonlinearities and uncertainties affecting the outcome makes this task very challenging. With the objective of introducing optimal control strategies that address those difficulties, in this talk I will discuss a framework based on Sequential Convex Programming (SCP), from both theoretical and numerical perspectives. First, I will detail the operating principle of SCP and analyze related optimality guarantees. Then, I will leverage SCP to numerically solve stochastic optimal control problems through appropriate deterministic reformulations.
Biography. Riccardo Bonalli received an M.Sc. degree in mathematical engineering from Politecnico di Milano in 2014, and a Ph.D. degree in applied mathematics from Sorbonne University in 2018, in collaboration with ONERA–The French Aerospace Lab. He is recipient of the ONERA DTIS Best PhD student award 2018. He is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher with the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University. His research interests include theoretical and numerical optimal control with applications in aerospace engineering and robotics.
Practical details. the seminar will take place online, using Microsoft Teams. If you want to attend this seminar (or any of the forthcoming online Automatiques seminars), and if you do not already have access to the AutoSeminar group on Teams, simply send an email and you will be invited. Please specify which email address the invitation must be sent to (this has to be the address associated with your Teams account). You will find the link to the seminar on the « General » AutoSeminar channel on Teams, approximately 15 minutes before the beginning.
The technical side of things: you can use Teams either directly from you web browser or using the « fat client », which is available for most platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac, Android & iOS). We strongly recommend the latter option whenever possible. Please give it a try before the seminar to anticipate potential problems.
