An example method for controlling a vehicle includes obtaining reference information relating to an operation parameter of the vehicle, the operation parameter describing mission waypoints of the vehicle at respective time points during which the vehicle is to traverse a path, the reference information including reference values of the operation parameter corresponding to the time points; obtaining context information of the vehicle that relates to a state of the vehicle during an operation of the vehicle at the respective time points or an environment enclosing the path; determining tolerable ranges of the operation parameter for the time points based on the reference information and the context information; obtaining penalty information relating to differences between respective tolerable ranges and corresponding values of a constraint at the time points; determining a control instruction based on the tolerable ranges and the penalty information; and operating the vehicle based on the control instruction.