Active exploration in adaptive model predictive control

A dual adaptive model predictive control (MPC) algorithm is presented for linear, time-invariant systems subject to bounded disturbances and parametric uncertainty in the state-space matrices. Online set-membership identification is performed to reduce the uncertainty and thus control affects both the informativity of identification and the system’s performance. The main contribution of the paper is to include this dual effect in the MPC optimization problem using a predicted worst-case cost in the objective function. This allows the controller to perform active exploration, that is, the control input reduces the uncertainty in the regions of the parameter space that have most influence on the performance. Additionally, the MPC algorithm ensures robust constraint satisfaction of state and input constraints. Advantages of the proposed algorithm are shown by comparing it to a passive adaptive MPC algorithm from the literature.