un 2 00 9 Computational Analysis of Control Systems Using Dynamic Optimization ∗

Several concepts on the measure of observability, reachability, and robustness are defined and illustrated for both linear and nonlinear control systems. Defined by using computational dynamic optimization, these concepts are applicable to a wide spectrum of problems. Some questions addressed include the observability based on userinformation, the determination of strong observability vs. weak observability, partial observability of complex systems, the computation of L2-gain for nonlinear control systems, and the measure of reachability in the presence of state constraints. Examples on dynamic systems defined by both ordinary and partial differential equations are shown.