A novel feedforward–feedback suboptimal control of linear time-delay systems

This paper presents a new approach for solving the optimal control problem of linear time-delay systems with a quadratic cost functional. In this approach, a method of successive substitution is employed to convert the original time-delay optimal control problem into a sequence of linear time-invariant ordinary differential equations (ODEs) without delay and advance terms. The obtained optimal control consists of a linear state feedback term and a forward term. The feedback term is determined by solving a matrix Riccati differential equation. The forward term is an infinite sum of adjoint vectors, which can be obtained by solving recursively the above-mentioned sequence of linear non-delay ODEs. A fast-converging iterative algorithm for this purpose is presented which provides a promising possible reduction of computational efforts. Numerical examples demonstrating the efficiency, simplicity and high accuracy of the suggested technique have been included. Simulation results reveal that just a few iterations of the proposed algorithm are required to find an accurate enough feedforward–feedback suboptimal control.