State and Output Feedback Nonlinear Model Predictive Control: An Overview

The purpose of this paper is twofold. In the first part we give a review on the current state of nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC). After a brief presentation of the basic principle of predictive control we outline some of the theoretical, computational, and implementational aspects of this control strategy. Most of the theoretical developments in the area of NMPC are based on the assumption that the full state is available for measurement, an assumption that does not hold in the typical practical case. Thus, in the second part of this paper we focus on the output feedback problem in NMPC. After a brief overview on existing output feedback NMPC approaches we derive conditions that guarantee stability of the closed-loop if an NMPC state feedback controller is used together with a full state observer for the recovery of the system state.