generateJacobianFunction

Generate MATLAB Jacobian functions for multistage nonlinear MPC using automatic differentiation

Since R2023a

Syntax

newMSobj = generateJacobianFunction(oldMSobj,type)

generateJacobianFunction(___,Name=Value)

Description

newMSobj = generateJacobianFunction(oldMSobj,type) uses automatic differentiation to generate a MATLAB^® function that calculates the derivatives, with respect to the plant states and inputs, of a function specified in the multistage nonlinear MPC object oldMSobj and indicated by type.

After successfully generating and saving the function file (along with two supporting files) in the same folder as the one in which the original function is located, generateJacobianFunction returns the new multistage nonlinear MPC object newMSobj. This returned object is the same as the original object oldMSobj but has its corresponding Jacobian function fields (in its Model and Stages properties) updated to use the generated Jacobian function.

The name of the generated Jacobian function is the same as the original function with the Jacobian appended at the end. If a stage of oldMSobj does not have any cost or constraint function defined, no cost or constraint Jacobian function is generated for that stage.

For more information or automatic differentiation, see Automatic Differentiation Background.

generateJacobianFunction(___,Name=Value) also specifies the stage number and whether to save the generated function files in the current folder, using one or more name-value pair arguments.

Examples

Generate Jacobian Functions for Multistage Nonlinear MPC

Create a multistage nonlinear MPC object with a horizon of ten steps, for a plant with six states and two manipulated variables.

msobj = nlmpcMultistage(10,6,2);

Write a simple state function as a string.

sstr = "function xdot = mystatefcn(x,u)" + newline + ...
       "xdot = ones(6,2)*u-x.^3;" + newline + "end";

Write the string to the mystatefcn.m file.

sfid=fopen("mystatefcn.m","w");
fwrite(sfid,sstr,"char");
fclose(sfid);

Write a simple cost function as a string.

cstr = "function c = mycostfcn(k,x,u)" + newline + ...
       "c = k*u'*u + k*x'*x;" + newline + "end";

Write the string to the mycostfcn.m file.

cfid=fopen("mycostfcn.m","w");
fwrite(cfid,cstr,"char");
fclose(cfid);

Alternatively, you can write your state and cost MATLAB functions in the current folder (local functions are supported for the generation of Jacobians, but not for the generation of deployment code).

Specify the state transition function for the prediction model.

msobj.Model.StateFcn = "mystatefcn";

Specify the cost functions for all stages except the first two.

for i=3:10
    msobj.Stages(i).CostFcn = "mycostfcn"; 
end

Generate the state Jacobian function. This function calculates the derivatives of the state function with respect to the plant states and inputs.

msobj = generateJacobianFunction(msobj,"state");

Generate the cost Jacobian function. This function calculates the derivatives of each stage cost function with respect to the plant states and inputs.

msobj = generateJacobianFunction(msobj,"cost");

Display the generated cost Jacobian function.

type mycostfcnJacobian.m

function [Jx, Ju] = mycostfcnJacobian(stage, x, u)
% This function was generated by Model Predictive Control Toolbox (Version 26.1).
% 25-Jan-2026 22:47:10
%# codegen
[Jx, Ju] = mycostfcnJacobianAD(stage, x, u);
Ju = Ju([1 2],:);

Display the Jacobian fields of the Model and Stages properties of msobj.

msobj.Model.StateJacFcn

ans = 
'mystatefcnJacobian'

msobj.Stages(2).CostFcn

ans =

     []

msobj.Stages(3).CostFcn

ans = 
'mycostfcn'

Validate all the functions specified in msobj for a random plant state and input.

validateFcns(msobj,rand(6,1),rand(2,1));

Model.StateFcn is OK.
Model.StateJacFcn is OK.
"CostFcn" of the following stages [3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10] are OK.

"CostJacFcn" of the following stages [3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10] are OK.

Analysis of user-provided model, cost, and constraint functions complete.

Input Arguments

oldMSobj — Original multistage MPC controller

nlmpcMultistage object

Original multistage nonlinear MPC controller, specified as an nlmpcMultistage object.

type — Type of function

"state" | "cost" | "ineqcon" | "eqcon"

Type of function for which Jacobians are generated, specified as one of the following strings:

• "state" — Generate Jacobian functions for the state function.

• "cost" — Generate Jacobian functions for the cost function.

• "ineqcon" — Generate Jacobian functions for the inequality constraint function.

• "eqcon" — Generate Jacobian functions for the equality constraint function.

Name-Value Arguments

Specify optional pairs of arguments as Name1=Value1,...,NameN=ValueN, where Name is the argument name and Value is the corresponding value. Name-value arguments must appear after other arguments, but the order of the pairs does not matter.

Example: FunctionName="computeAction"

SaveInSameFolder — Option to save generated function files in same folder

true or 1 (default) | false or 0

Option to save generated function files in the same folder as the one in which the original function is located, specified as a numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). If you set this option to false, the generated function files are saved in the current MATLAB folder (the folder returned by the pwd command).

Note

If the original state, cost or constraint function is specified in oldMSobj as a handle to a local function (that is, a function defined in the same script file that you execute), then its Jacobian function is always saved in the current folder, even if SaveInSameFolder is specified as true.

Example: SaveInSameFolder=false

StageNumber — Stage number

0 (default) | nonnegative integer

Stage number for which the Jacobian cost or constraint function must be generated, specified as a nonnegative integer not greater than the number of stages. When you specify a positive number, Jacobian functions are generated only for the specified stage number. If you specify 0 (default), Jacobians are generated for all the stages.

Example: StageNumber=3

Output Arguments

newMSobj — New nonlinear multistage MPC controller

nlmpcMultistage object

New nonlinear multistage MPC controller, returned as an nlmpcMultistage object. It is the same as the original object oldMSobj but has its corresponding Jacobian function fields (in its Model and Stages properties) updated to use the generated MATLAB function.

Limitations

• Automatic differentiation currently supports only a limited set of mathematical operations, which are described in Supported Operations on Expressions. If your original function uses operations or functions that are not in the list, or has if-else statements or loops, generateJacobianFunction terminates with an error.

• To generate Jacobian functions, do not preallocate any optimization variable. For example, do not try to generate Jacobians from a function containing the following code.

  dxdt = zeros(2,1); 
  dxdt(1) = x(1)*x(2);
  dxdt(2) = x(1)/x(2); 

  Instead, use the following code.

  dxdt = [x(1)*x(2); x(1)/x(2)];

  For more information, see Resolve Error: Unable to Assign Expression During Automatic Differentiation.

• Specifying the state, cost, and constraint functions in oldMSobj as files in the current folder or in a folder on the MATLAB path is recommended. While handles to local functions are supported for Jacobian function generation, they are not supported for generation of C/C++ deployment code. For more information on local functions, see Local Functions.

Tips

If you design a controller for a data-driven plant model described by a idNeuralStateSpace (System Identification Toolbox) or idnlgrey (System Identification Toolbox) model, the generateMATLABFunction (System Identification Toolbox) function generates both the model state transition function as well as its Jacobians with respect to the state and input vectors. Therefore, in this case, using generateJacobianFunction to generate the Jacobians of the state transition is not necessary. On the other hand, generateJacobianFunction is still useful to generate the Jacobians of the cost and constraint functions.

Version History

Introduced in R2023a