An Introduction to a Class of Optimal Control Problems

In this paper, an attempt is made to define and solve a class of optimal control problems. In the treatment of the problem, the notion of state and the concept of the principle of optimality are employed. The approach taken here makes the solution of the problem easy to follow by most of the undergraduate students in an electrical engineering curriculum. This is in contrast to almost all the material available in this field. Two examples illustrate the application of the theory.