This dissertation concerns the development of reduced complexity controllers forhybrid switched systems. A diverse number of applications from automotive industry, fluid dyna-mics and power systems are treated. Some general open loop optimal and predictive control schemesare proposed. The main motivation behind each method is the reduction of the combinatorics. Inthis thesis, two main contributions can be distinguished. The first one concerns the optimal controlof switched nonlinear systems where an algorithm based on strong variations is proposed and someconvergence results proven. The complexity of the scheme is linear in the number of locations, thisin conjunction with its simplicity makes it attractive for large scale systems. An example fromthe automotive industry is treated to further illustrate the tractability of the scheme. The secondcontribution concerns the development of a hierarchical approach for switched nonlinear systems.At the lower level, feedback controllers are associated to each location and at the higher level apredictive approach with a reduced order parametrization is in force. Based on this methodology,two schemes are developed and successfully tested in respectively fluid stabilisation by actuatorswitching and voltage stabilization in power systems.
