Efficient Solution of Optimal Control Problems Using Hybrid Systems

We consider the synthesis of optimal controls for continuous feedback systems by recasting the problem to a hybrid optimal control problem: synthesize optimal enabling conditions for switching between locations in which the control is constant. An algorithmic solution is obtained by translating the hybrid automaton to a finite automaton using a bisimulation and formulating a dynamic programming problem with extra conditions to ensure non-Zenoness of trajectories. We show that the discrete value function converges to the viscosity solution of the Hamilton-JacobiBellman equation as a discretization parameter tends to zero.