`ode45` and tspan error Attempted to access - matlab

Question

I'm using ode45 to solve second order differential equation. the time span is determined based on how many numbers in txt file, therefore, the time span is defined as follows
i = 1;
t(i) = 0;
dt = 0.1;
numel(theta_d)
while ( i < numel(theta_d) )
i = i + 1;
t(i) = t(i-1) + dt;
end
Now the time elements should not exceed the size of txt (i.e. numel(theta_d)). In main.m, I have
x0 = [0; 0];
options= odeset('Reltol',dt,'Stats','on');
[t, x] = ode45('ODESolver', t, x0, options);
and ODESolver.m header is
function dx = ODESolver(t, x)
If I run the code, I'm getting this error
Attempted to access theta_d(56); index out of bounds because numel(theta_d)=55.
Error in ODESolver (line 29)
theta_dDot = ( theta_d(i) - theta_dPrev ) / dt;
Why the ode45 is not being fixed with the time span?
Edit: this is the entire code
main.m
clear all
clc
global error theta_d dt;
error = 0;
theta_d = load('trajectory.txt');
i = 1;
t(i) = 0;
dt = 0.1;
numel(theta_d)
while ( i < numel(theta_d) )
i = i + 1;
t(i) = t(i-1) + dt;
end
x0 = [pi/4; 0];
options= odeset('Reltol',dt,'Stats','on');
[t, x] = ode45(#ODESolver, t, x0, options);
%e = x(:,1) - theta_d; % Error theta
plot(t, x(:,2), 'r', 'LineWidth', 2);
title('Tracking Problem','Interpreter','LaTex');
xlabel('time (sec)');
ylabel('$\dot{\theta}(t)$', 'Interpreter','LaTex');
grid on
and ODESolver.m
function dx = ODESolver(t, x)
persistent i theta_dPrev
if isempty(i)
i = 1;
theta_dPrev = 0;
end
global error theta_d dt ;
dx = zeros(2,1);
%Parameters:
m = 0.5; % mass (Kg)
d = 0.0023e-6; % viscous friction coefficient
L = 1; % arm length (m)
I = 1/3*m*L^2; % inertia seen at the rotation axis. (Kg.m^2)
g = 9.81; % acceleration due to gravity m/s^2
% PID tuning
Kp = 5;
Kd = 1.9;
Ki = 0.02;
% theta_d first derivative
theta_dDot = ( theta_d(i) - theta_dPrev ) / dt;
theta_dPrev = theta_d(i);
% u: joint torque
u = Kp*(theta_d(i) - x(1)) + Kd*( theta_dDot - x(2)) + Ki*error;
error = error + (theta_dDot - x(1));
dx(1) = x(2);
dx(2) = 1/I*(u - d*x(2) - m*g*L*sin(x(1)));
i = i + 1;
end
and this is the error
Attempted to access theta_d(56); index out of bounds because numel(theta_d)=55.
Error in ODESolver (line 28)
theta_dDot = ( theta_d(i) - theta_dPrev ) / dt;
Error in ode45 (line 261)
f(:,2) = feval(odeFcn,t+hA(1),y+f*hB(:,1),odeArgs{:});
Error in main (line 21)
[t, x] = ode45(#ODESolver, t, x0, options);

Answer 1

The problem here is because you have data at discrete time points, but ode45 needs to be able to calculate the derivative at any time point in your time range. Once it solves the problem, it will interpolate the results back onto your desired time points. So it will calculate the derivative many times more than at just the time points you specified, thus your i counter will not work at all.
Since you have discrete data, the only way to proceed with ode45 is to interpolate theta_d to any time t. You have a list of values theta_d corresponding to times 0:dt:(dt*(numel(theta_d)-1)), so to interpolate to a particular time t, use interp1(0:dt:(dt*(numel(theta_d)-1)),theta_d,t), and I turned this into an anonymous function to give the interpolated value of theta_p at a given time t
Then your derivative function will look like
function dx = ODESolver(t, x,thetaI)
dx = zeros(2,1);
%Parameters:
m = 0.5; % mass (Kg)
d = 0.0023e-6; % viscous friction coefficient
L = 1; % arm length (m)
I = 1/3*m*L^2; % inertia seen at the rotation axis. (Kg.m^2)
g = 9.81; % acceleration due to gravity m/s^2
% PID tuning
Kp = 5;
Kd = 1.9;
Ki = 0.02;
% theta_d first derivative
dt=1e-4;
theta_dDot = (thetaI(t) - theta(I-dt)) / dt;
%// Note thetaI(t) is the interpolated theta_d values at time t
% u: joint torque
u = Kp*(thetaI(t) - x(1)) + Kd*( theta_dDot - x(2)) + Ki*error;
error = error + (theta_dDot - x(1));
dx=[x(2); 1/I*(u - d*x(2) - m*g*L*sin(x(1)))];
end
and you will have to define thetaI=#(t) interp1(0:dt:(dt*(numel(theta_d)-1)),theta_d,t); before calling ode45 using [t, x] = ode45(#(t,x) ODESolver(t,x,thetaI, t, x0, options);.
I removed a few things from ODESolver and changed how the derivative was computed.
Note I can't test this, but it should get you on the way.