Local optimization of dynamic programs with guaranteed satisfaction of path constraints

An algorithm is proposed for locating a feasible point satisfying the KKT conditions to a specified tolerance of feasible inequality-path-constrained dynamic programs (PCDP) within a finite number of iterations. The algorithm is based on iteratively approximating the PCDP by restricting the right-hand side of the path constraints and enforcing the path constraints at finitely many time points. The main contribution of this article is an adaptation of the semi-infinite program (SIP) algorithm proposed in Mitsos (2011) to PCDP. It is proved that the algorithm terminates finitely with a guaranteed feasible point which satisfies the first-order KKT conditions of the PCDP to a specified tolerance. The main assumptions are: (i) availability of a nonlinear program (NLP) local solver that generates a KKT point of the constructed approximation to PCDP at each iteration if this problem is indeed feasible; (ii) existence of a Slater point of the PCDP that also satisfies the first-order KKT conditions of the PCDP to a specified tolerance; (iii) all KKT multipliers are nonnegative and uniformly bounded with respect to all iterations. The performance of the algorithm is analyzed through two numerical case studies.