<p>This paper investigates optimal control problems governed by explicit sweeping processes. Rather than addressing these problems directly, we consider a family of regularized problems derived using Ekeland’s variational principle and an approximation approach, wherein explicit sweeping processes are approximated by a family of implicit sweeping processes. These implicit formulations allow the application of standard Maximum Principle techniques to solve the problem. We establish theoretical guarantees that ensure when the regularized problem provides accurate derivative information for the original problem. Finally, we illustrate the effectiveness of our implicit approach by solving the optimal control problem for the variational inequality describing the single degree-of-freedom elasto-plastic oscillator.</p>