Optimal Control Problems with a Fixed Terminal Time in Linear Fractional-Order Systems

Abstract: The paper deals with an optimal control problem in a dynamical system described by a linear differential equation with the Caputo fractional derivative. The goal of control is to minimize a Bolza-type cost functional, which consists of two terms: the first one evaluates the state of the system at a fixed terminal time, and the second one is an integral evaluation of the control on the whole time interval. In order to solve this problem, we propose to reduce it to some auxiliary optimal control problem in a dynamical system described by a first-order ordinary differential equation. The reduction is based on the representation formula for solutions to linear fractional differential equations and is performed by some linear transformation, which is called the informational image of a position of the original system and can be treated as a special prediction of a motion of this system at the terminal time. A connection between the original and auxiliary problems is established for both open-loop and feedback (closed-loop) controls. The results obtained in the paper are illustrated by examples.