Optimal trajectory tracking solution: Fractional order viewpoint.

Abstract In this paper, a generalized trajectory tracking problem for a closed-loop control system is formulated in the optimal control context. A linear time varying plant is considered to track a closed-loop desired trajectory generated by a given mechanism. The theoretical results are obtained based on the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman theory in which some generalized semiquadratic value functions are employed as the Lagrangian. In addition, we employ a non-integer order integral of Riemann-Liouville type as the cost functional, so that the trajectory tracking process can be evaluated in an extended optimum manner wherein the fractionality plays the main role. By selecting a suitable fractional order of the integral, a satisfactory optimal control system can be deduced in which least concentration on selecting the weighting matrices is needed. To show the effectiveness of the results, some numerical examples illustrate the potentials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]