Related papers: Flexible Lyapunov Functions and Applications to Fa…
Safety critical systems involve the tight coupling between potentially conflicting control objectives and safety constraints. As a means of creating a formal framework for controlling systems of this form, and with a view toward automotive…
This paper studies switching stabilization problems for general switched nonlinear systems. A piecewise smooth control-Lyapunov function (PSCLF) approach is proposed and a constructive way to design a stabilizing switching law is developed.…
This paper establishes relationships between continuous-time, receding horizon, nonlinear model predictive control (MPC) and control Lyapunov and control barrier functions (CLF/CBF). We show that, if the cost function "behaves well" for…
We investigate the problem of synthesizing switching controllers for stabilizing continuous-time plants. First, we introduce a class of control Lyapunov functions (CLFs) for switched systems along with a switching strategy that yields a…
Recent work has shown that stabilizing an affine control system to a desired state while optimizing a quadratic cost subject to state and control constraints can be reduced to a sequence of Quadratic Programs (QPs) by using Control Barrier…
Neural-based, data-driven analysis and control of dynamical systems have been recently investigated and have shown great promise, e.g. for safety verification or stability analysis. Indeed, not only do neural networks allow for an entirely…
Deep learning has had a far reaching impact in robotics. Specifically, deep reinforcement learning algorithms have been highly effective in synthesizing neural-network controllers for a wide range of tasks. However, despite this empirical…
Stability analysis of switched systems, characterized by multiple operational modes and switching signals, is challenging due to their nonlinear dynamics. While frameworks such as multiple Lyapunov functions (MLF) provide a foundation for…
Recent developments in data-driven control have revived interest in the behavioral approach to systems theory, where systems are defined as sets of trajectories rather than being described by a specific model or representation. However,…
This paper develops a controller for Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) traversing a single-lane roundabout. The controller simultaneously determines the optimal sequence and associated optimal motion control jointly minimizing travel…
The problem of safely learning and controlling a dynamical system - i.e., of stabilizing an originally (partially) unknown system while ensuring that it does not leave a prescribed 'safe set' - has recently received tremendous attention in…
Control barrier functions (CBFs) play a critical role in the design of safe optimization-based controllers for control-affine systems. Given a CBF associated with a desired ``safe'' set, the typical approach consists in embedding CBF-based…
Stability and safety are two important aspects in safety-critical control of dynamical systems. It has been a well established fact in control theory that stability properties can be characterized by Lyapunov functions. Reachability…
We develop optimal control strategies for Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) that are required to meet complex specifications imposed by traffic laws and cultural expectations of reasonable driving behavior. We formulate these specifications as…
This paper presents a method to design a min-norm Control Lyapunov Function (CLF)-based stabilizing controller for a control-affine system with uncertain dynamics using Gaussian Process (GP) regression. In order to estimate both state and…
Recent methods using Reinforcement Learning (RL) have proven to be successful for training intelligent agents in unknown environments. However, RL has not been applied widely in real-world robotics scenarios. This is because current…
Design and analysis of stabilizing controllers with safety guarantees for nonlinear systems have received considerable attention in recent years. Control Lyapunov-barrier functions (CLBFs) provide a powerful framework for simultaneously…
In this paper, a novel online, output-feedback, critic-only, model-based reinforcement learning framework is developed for safety-critical control systems operating in complex environments. The developed framework ensures system stability…
This paper presents a control law for stabilization and trajectory tracking of a multicopter subject to safety constraints. The proposed approach guarantees forward invariance of a prescribed safety set while ensuring smooth tracking…
Complex control systems are often described in a layered fashion, represented as higher-order systems where the inputs appear after a chain of integrators. While Control Barrier Functions (CBFs) have proven to be powerful tools for…