Optimal Control

Ask about this topic

Overview

Optimal control asks how to steer a system over time toward goals while minimizing costs such as energy, time, or tracking error and respecting limits on actions and states. Classical approaches include Pontryagin’s maximum principle, dynamic programming and Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equations, and numerical methods such as direct collocation, differential dynamic programming, and model predictive control. Recent work also uses reinforcement learning, differentiable simulators, and neural surrogates to speed up planning or handle complex models, with applications ranging from robotics and aerospace to energy systems and PDEs. A central challenge is making these methods fast enough for real-time, high-dimensional tasks without losing reliability when models are uncertain or safety guarantees are needed.

Latest papers

CardsList

139 papers11 papers in the last four weeks, up 22% on the four weeks before. 0.1% of all new papers.

  1. Noise Steering: Exploiting Wake Steering and Acoustic Directivity for Noise-Constrained Wind Farm Control via Reinforcement Learning

    Oct 27, 2026Martín de Frutos, Baptiste Corban, Claire Bizon Monroc +4Optimal ControlRL Control

    ETSIAE-UPM - School of Aeronautics, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Plaza Cardenal Cisneros 3, Madrid, E-28040, Spain · Inria, 48 rue Barrault, Paris, 75013, France · DI ENS, Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, Paris, France +3

  2. Balanced Active Subspaces for Optimal Control via Trajectory Optimization

    Oct 26, 2026Emmanuel S. Ameh, Samuel E. OttoOptimal ControlReduced-Order Modeling

    Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering · Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

  3. Performance Gaps Between Open-Loop, Certainty-Equivalent, and Optimal Control Under Action-Dependent Observations

    Oct 24, 2026Leo Maynard-Zhang, Sunmook Choi, Yahya Sattar +3Stochastic Optimal ControlOptimal Control

    U Washington · Cornell · Imperial College London +1

  4. Optimization, Optimal Control, and Reinforcement Learning for Robotics

    Oct 23, 2026Yonghyeon LeeOptimal ControlRL for Robotics

    Department of Artificial Intelligence, Yonsei University

  5. Switch-Time-Aware Hybrid Model Predictive Control Using the Hybrid Minimum Principle

    Oct 16, 2026Valentin Gaucher, Wenlong ZhangModel Predictive ControlOptimal Control

    School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, Arizona State University, Mesa, AZ, 85212, USA.

  6. MAGMA: Multiplier-Augmented Geometric Motion Algorithm

    Oct 15, 2026César E. Ramos Chuquiure, Vansh Thakur, Challen Enninful Adu +1Trajectory OptimizationOptimal Control

    Robotics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

  7. Optimally Trading Energy for Information through Speed Trajectory Optimization of Sustainably Powered Mobile Robots

    Oct 14, 2026Kavin M. Govindarajan, Dimitra Panagou, Chris VermillionTrajectory OptimizationOptimal Control

    Department of Robotics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA · Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA

  8. ConicFlow: constrained Inference-time optimal control for flow matching models

    Oct 9, 2026Shervin Khalafi, Kasra Fallah, Sung Cho +3Constrained Generative ModelingConstrained Sampling

    University of Pennsylvania · Columbia University · University of Tennessee, Knoxville

  9. Transition Path Sampling Using Koopman Operators and Exit-Time Optimal Control

    Oct 7, 2026Boya Hou, Shane Wang, Siddharth Ambekar +2Stochastic Optimal ControlOptimal Control

    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  10. Emergent Underactuation in Fully Actuated Multirotors by Minimizing a Homogeneous Allocation Cost

    Oct 3, 2026Antonio Franchi, Barbara BazzanaQuadrotor ControlOptimal Control

    Robotics and Mechatronics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands. · Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.

  11. Nonlinear Density-Driven Optimal Control (D2OC) for Multi-Agent Spatial Coverage via Sequential Convex Programming

    Oct 3, 2026Julian Martinez, Kooktae LeeMulti-Agent ControlOptimal Control

    Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA

  12. Decentralized Power-Optimal Coordination for Spacecraft Swarms Using Time-Varying Magnetorquer Actuation

    Oct 1, 2026Yuta Takahashi, Shin-ichiro SakaiMulti-Agent CoordinationFeedback Control

    Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Science Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan · Department of Spacecraft Engineering, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Kanagawa, Japan

  13. Least-time Gradient Flow

    Oct 1, 2026Alessandro Betti, Marco Gori, Stefano Melacci +1Optimal ControlGradient Descent Dynamics

    Department of Mathematics “Tullio Levi-Civita”, University of Padua, Italy. · Department of Information Engineering and Mathematics, University of Siena, Italy. · University of Florence, Italy.

  14. Learning Geometry-Aware Virtual Fixtures From Sparse Demonstrations

    Sep 26, 2026Maximilian Mühlbauer, Marcella Piacentino, Raffaella Mancino +10RoboticsRobot Teleoperation

    German Aerospace Center (DLR), Robotics and Mechatronics Center (RMC), Münchener Str. 20, 82234 Weßling, Germany. · Department of Computer Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Friedrich-Ludwig-Bauer-Str. 3, Garching, Germany. · C.R.E.A.T.E. Consorzio di Ricerca per l’Energia, l’Automazione e le Tecnologie dell’Elettromagnetismo, Universit`a degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Napoli, Italy +5

  15. Riemannian Density-Driven Optimal Control: Tangent-Space LQR for Second-Order Multi-Agent Systems on Curved Manifolds

    Sep 19, 2026Kooktae Lee, Ruchika SinghMulti-Agent ControlOptimal Control

    Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA

  16. Density-Driven Area Coverage for Nonholonomic Multi-Robot Systems with Safety Guarantee

    Sep 19, 2026Julian Martinez, Kooktae LeeRobotic ControlMulti-Robot Systems

    Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA

  17. Learning and Control Beyond Linearity: Towards a Non-asymptotic Theory for Bilinear Systems

    Sep 16, 2026Yahya Sattar, Yassir Jedra, Robin Strässer +3Dynamical SystemsFeedback Control

    Cornell University · Imperial College London · University of Stuttgart +2

  18. Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Differentiable Predictive Control for Underground Pumped Hydro Energy Storage Systems

    Sep 16, 2026Honghui Zheng, Ján Boldocký, Yury Dvorkin +1Model Predictive ControlOptimal Control

    Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD, US · Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia

  19. Diffusion-Based Multiple-Shooting Indirect Optimal Control for Fuel-Optimal Spacecraft Trajectory Generation

    Sep 12, 2026Saeid Tafazzol, Ehsan Taheri, Ryne BeesonOptimal ControlTrajectory Optimization

    Department of Aerospace Engineering, Auburn University · Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University

  20. Optimizing Geoengineering Interventions Using Differentiable Climate Models

    Sep 11, 2026Pulkit Dubey, Dorian S. Abbot, Ashesh ChattopadhyayClimate ScienceClimate Modeling

    Department of Applied Mathematics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 · Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637

  21. Risk-Aware Optimal Control with Rulebooks

    Sep 4, 2026Tichakorn WongpiromsarnOptimal ControlSafety-Critical Control

    Department of Computer Science, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50010

  22. Differential Games for Compositional Handling of Competing Control Tasks

    Sep 1, 2026Joshua Shay KricheliOptimal Control

    Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, The Faculty of Natural Sciences, The Department of Computer Science

  23. Dispersive Forward Tree Search for Optimal Control: Coverage, Complexity, and Computation

    Aug 26, 2026Shashank A. Deshpande, Jonathan P. HowDifferential FlatnessKinodynamic Motion Planning

    Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

  24. Learning to Control Coupled-Dynamics Environments with Joint Markov Decision Processes

    Aug 24, 2026Ege C. Kaya, Aliasghar Pourghani, Mahsa Ghasemi +2Semi-Markov Decision ProcessMarkov Decision Processes

    Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Purdue University

  25. Optimal control of a swimming robot based on Purcell's microswimmer model

    Aug 18, 2026Noam Berkovich Lahav, Oren Wiezel, Yizhar OrEnergy-Efficient Robot LocomotionRobot Locomotion

  26. Distribution Steering via Sliced Optimal Transport Control

    Aug 13, 2026Kaito Ito, Anqi DongFeedback ControlOptimal Control

    Department of Information Physics and Computing The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8654, Japan · Department of Mathematics and Digital Futures KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden

  27. Genetic Fuzzy System-based Control for Final Approach of Spacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity Operations

    Aug 13, 2026Daegyun Choi, Donghoon Kim, Henzeh LeeghimSpacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity OperationsFuzzy Logic

    PhD Student, Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA. · Assistant Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA. · Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Chosun University, Gwangju 61452, South Korea.

  28. Event-Time Hybrid Optimal Control for Robotic Table Tennis Serves

    Aug 8, 2026Thomas Gossard, Till Köpff, Andreas ZieglerTrajectory OptimizationRobotic Table Tennis

  29. Generalization Bounds on Optimal Control for Transformer Training and Wasserstein Distributional Robustness

    Jul 30, 2026Kağan Akman, Naci Saldi, Serdar YükselTransformerWasserstein Distributionally Robust Optimization

    Department of Mathematics, Bilkent University, 06800, Ankara, Turkey · Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Queen’s University, Kingston, K7L 3N8, Ontario, Canada

  30. Bridging Reinforcement Learning and Optimal Control via Feasible Action Mapping

    Jul 27, 2026Stefan Richter, Alberto Giammarino, Guillem Torrente +2Robotic ControlRL Control

    Sony AI, Zurich, Switzerland