The Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation is a fundamental result in optimal control theory, providing a necessary condition for optimality in dynamic programming problems. It relates the value of a decision-making process at a certain state to the values at future states by considering the optimal control actions. The HJB equation can be expressed as:
where is the value function representing the minimum cost-to-go from state , is the immediate cost incurred for taking action , and represents the system dynamics. The equation emphasizes the principle of optimality, stating that an optimal policy is composed of optimal decisions at each stage that depend only on the current state. This makes the HJB equation a powerful tool in solving complex control problems across various fields, including economics, engineering, and robotics.
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