ECE 553: Optimum Control Systems (Spring 2026)

Announcements

February 3

• There will be no lecture and no instructor office hours on Thu, Feb 5.
• Next week's office hours will be on Tue, Feb 10, 9:30--11:00am in 162 CSL.

January 29

• Homework 1 is assigned, due by the end of the day on Tue, Feb 10.

January 14

• Welcome! Watch this space for all important course-related announcements.

About this course

What is this?

ECE 553: Optimum Control Systems is a graduate-level course on optimal control systems. It presents a rigorous introduction to the theory of calculus of variations, the maximum principle, and the HJB equation. The course deals mainly with general nonlinear systems, but the linear theory will be examined in detail towards the end.

Textbook

D. Liberzon, Calculus of Variations and Optimal Control Theory: A Concise Introduction, Princeton University Press, 2012. ISBN 978-0-691-15187-8.

Additional materials

• Hector J. Sussmann and Jan C. Willems, "300 years of optimal control: from the brachystochrone to the maximum principle"
• Richard Feynman, "The principle of least action" (The Feynman Lectures on Physics, vol. 2, lecture 19)
• Charles A. Desoer, "Pontriagin's maximum principle and the principle of optimality"
• Hans S. Wistenhausen, "A heuristic approach to the maximum principle"

Coursework

Grades will be based on regular written homework sets (60%) and a final exam (40%). Details will be explained in class.

Regular weekly schedule

Lectures

Tue Thu 12:30-1:50pm, 3015 ECE Building

Office hours:

Thu 10:00-11:30am, 162 CSL

Homework

Assigned on Thursdays, due by the end of the day on the due date. All homework must be typeset in LaTeX and uploaded to Gradescope (see coursework info).
Under normal circumstances, graded homework should be returned within 10 days of submission.