A Global Optimal Solution to the Eco-Driving Problem

Eco-driving aims at minimizing the energy consumption of a vehicle by adjusting the vehicle’s velocity. This can be formulated as an optimal control problem and this letter provides a detailed view on the global optimal solution to this problem. A method to reformulate and discretize the problem avoiding the introduction of additional nonconvex terms is presented. Furthermore, physically realistic conditions are given that guarantee the existence of the global optimal solution to the eco-driving problem. Subsequently, a sequential quadratic programming algorithm is provided that allows finding the global optimal solution. Finally, two numerical examples are used to illustrate how solutions of the eco-driving problem can be obtained.