Using function of multiple variables in fmincon

I define a function in a separate .m file as:
function [y]=myfun(r,t,m,n,p)
syms r,t,p;
y=limit(diff((p.*exp(1+r.*cos(t)),r,n)),p,1);
end
I want to use this function in fmincon to minimize over the variables 'r' and 't'.Comments on this problem are welcome. Thanks in advance.

 Accepted Answer

Matt J
Matt J on 17 Sep 2018
Edited: Matt J on 17 Sep 2018
You want to re-implement myfun as
function y=myfun(unknowns, n)
r=unknowns(1);
t=unknowns(2);
y = (cos(t).^n) * exp(1+r.*cos(t));
end
and then
fmincon(@(x) myfun(x,n), [r0,t0], ...other arguments...)

3 Comments

Hi Matt J, many thanks for your input.Actually I need the function in more general setting like:
function [y]=myfun(r,t,m,n,p)
syms r,t,p;
y=limit(diff(((p.^m).*exp(1+r.*cos(t)),r,n)),p,1);
end
So it will be better if we could keep it in that form otherwise depending on 'm', the expression becomes quite big and cumbersome to write.
Will the method suggested by you work in this case too.
Thanks!
Matt J
Matt J on 17 Sep 2018
Edited: Matt J on 17 Sep 2018
Following my example or the examples here, you can pass whatever known parameters you want to the function, in addition to the unknowns.
You can also always use matlabFunction to convert a symbolic expression to a non-symbolic Matlab function for use with fmincon, or whatever.
Thank you for link on additional parameters. It solved the problem.

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