Relaxed Barrier Function Based Model Predictive Control

In this thesis, we introduce the novel concept of relaxed barrier function based model predictive control and present a comprehensive theoretical and algorithmic framework for the design, analysis, and implementation of relaxed barrier function based MPC approaches. Instead of treating the underlying optimization as an idealized static map, a key motive of the MPC results and algorithms presented in this thesis is to study the interconnected dynamics of controlled plant and iterative optimization algorithm in an integrated barrier function based framework and to analyze the resulting overall closed-loop system both from a systems theoretic and algorithmic perspective. One of the presented main results is a novel class of barrier function based anytime MPC algorithms that guarantee important properties of the closed-loop system independently of the number of optimization algorithm iterations that are performed at each sampling step. The obtained theoretical results are illustrated by various numerical examples and benchmark tests as well as by an experimental case study in which the proposed class of barrier function based MPC algorithms is applied to the predictive control of a self-driving car.