Computational Aspects of Approximate Explicit Nonlinear Model Predictive Control

It has recently been shown that the feedback solution to linear and quadratic constrained Model Predictive Control (MPC) problems has an explicit representation as a piecewise linear (PWL) state feedback. For nonlinear MPC the prospects of explicit solutions are even higher than for linear MPC, since the benefits of computational efficiency and verifiability are even more important. Preliminary studies on approximate explicit PWL solutions of convex nonlinear MPC problems, based on multi-parametric Nonlinear Programming (mp-NLP) ideas show that sub-optimal PWL controllers of practical complexity can indeed be computed off-line. However, for non-convex problems there is a need to investigate practical computational methods that not necessarily lead to guaranteed properties, but when combined with verification and analysis methods will give a practical tool for development and implementation of explicit NMPC. The present paper focuses on the development of such methods. As a case study, the application of the developed approaches to compressor surge control is considered.