Title: Introduction to optimal control theory
First published: 1982
Description: This is an introduction to optimal control theory for systems governed by vector ordinary differential equations, up to and including a proof of the Pontryagin Maximum Principle. Though the subject is accessible to any student with a sound undergraduate mathematics background. Theory and applications are integrated with examples, particularly one special example (the rocket car) which relates all the abstract ideas to an understandable setting. The authors avoid excessive generalization, focusing rather on motivation and clear, fluid explanation.
Subjects: Control theory, Mathematical optimization, Mathematics, System theory, Control Systems Theory, Calculus of Variations and Optimal Control; Optimization