Direct transcription solution of high index optimal control problems and regular Euler–Lagrange equations

Direct transcription methods are used to solve optimal control problems in many industrial settings. Models for physical systems often take the form of differential algebraic equations (DAEs). The index of the DAE traditionally is viewed as an important factor in deciding whether a particular numerical approach should be used. Recently it has been observed that what the user thinks is the index of the DAE may not be the same as the index available to the optimization software. An investigation of this fact is underway in order to develop guidelines to assist users of various numerical optimal control packages. This paper develops some theoretical results that will be needed for this development.