Learning for MPC

Model predictive control (MPC) is a powerful tool for planning and controlling dynamical systems due to its capacity for handling constraints and taking advantage of preview information. Nevertheless, MPC performance is highly dependent on the choice of cost function tuning parameters. In this work, we demonstrate an approach for online automatic tuning of an MPC controller with an example application to an ecological cruise control system that saves fuel by using a preview of road grade. We solve the global fuel consumption minimization problem offline using dynamic programming and find the corresponding MPC cost function by solving the inverse optimization problem. A neural network fitted to these offline results is used to generate the desired MPC cost function weight during online operation. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is verified in simulation for different road geometries.

  • M. Abtahi, M. Rabbani, and S. Nazari, "An Automatic Tuning MPC with Application to Ecological Cruise Control", Modeling Estimation and Control Conference (MECC), 2023
Summary of the Automatic Tuning MPC (AT-MPC) approach
Summary of the Automatic Tuning MPC (AT-MPC) approach

 

AT-MPC Performance
Fuel economy versus average velocity for DP, AT-MPC, PT-MPC, LMPC, and PI controllers for three road profiles