Adjoint-based SQP method with block-wise quasi-Newton Jacobian updates for nonlinear optimal control

Nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) generally requires the solution of a non-convex dynamic optimization problem at each sampling instant under strict timing constraints, based on a set of differential equations that can often be stiff and/or that may include implicit algebraic equations. This paper provides a local convergence analysis for the recently proposed adjoint-based sequential quadratic programming (SQP) algorithm that is based on a block-structured variant of the two-sided rank-one (TR1) quasi-Newton update formula to efficiently compute Jacobian matrix approximations in a sparsity preserving fashion. A particularly efficient algorithm implementation is proposed in case an implicit integration scheme is used for discretization of the optimal control problem, in which matrix factorization and matrix-matrix operations can be avoided entirely. The convergence analysis results as well as the computational performance of the proposed optimization algorithm are illustrated for two simulation case studies of NMPC.