ABSTRACT
When exactly is a control called optimal? What exactly is needed to compute optimal controls? To answer these questions, a summary of optimal control theory is presented. Along with it, by a simple optimal greenhouse control example, important interpretations are provided. Next, optimal control algorithms are described and classied. These algorithms generate so-called open-loop optimal controls. The methodology to obtain these controls in open loop is also known as dynamic optimization. In practice, the control of greenhouses also requires feedback. Feedback control is the topic of the next chapter.
