Related papers: Collision Avoidance and Geofencing for Fixed-wing …
Modern autopilot systems are prone to sensor attacks that can jeopardize flight safety. To mitigate this risk, we proposed a modular solution: the secure safety filter, which extends the well-established control barrier function (CBF)-based…
This paper addresses the problem of safety-critical control for systems with unknown dynamics. It has been shown that stabilizing affine control systems to desired (sets of) states while optimizing quadratic costs subject to state and…
Control barrier functions (CBFs) recently introduced a systematic way to guarantee the system's safety through set invariance. Together with a nominal control method, it establishes a safety-critical control mechanism. The resulting safety…
Safety is a central requirement for autonomous system operation across domains. Hamilton-Jacobi (HJ) reachability analysis can be used to construct "least-restrictive" safety filters that result in infrequent, but often extreme, control…
This tutorial paper presents recent work of the authors that extends the theory of Control Barrier Functions (CBFs) to address practical challenges in the synthesis of safe controllers for autonomous systems and robots. We present novel…
This paper addresses the challenge of integrating explicit hard constraints into the control barrier function (CBF) framework for ensuring safety in autonomous systems, including robots. We propose a novel data-driven method to derive CBFs…
Modern nonlinear control theory seeks to develop feedback controllers that endow systems with properties such as safety and stability. The guarantees ensured by these controllers often rely on accurate estimates of the system state for…
Applications that require multi-robot systems to operate independently for extended periods of time in unknown or unstructured environments face a broad set of challenges, such as hardware degradation, changing weather patterns, or…
Achieving safe autonomous navigation systems is critical for deploying robots in dynamic and uncertain real-world environments. In this paper, we propose a hierarchical control framework leveraging neural network verification techniques to…
Autonomous spacecraft inspection and docking missions require controllers that can guarantee safety under thrust constraints and uncertainty. Input-constrained control barrier functions (ICCBFs) provide a framework for safety certification…
In this paper we discuss how to use a barrier function that is subject to kinematic constraints and limited sensing in order to guarantee that fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will maintain safe distances from each other at all…
Control barrier functions (CBFs) have recently introduced a systematic tool to ensure system safety by establishing set invariance. When combined with a nominal control strategy, they form a safety-critical control mechanism. However, the…
Singularities in robotic and dynamical systems arise when the mapping from control inputs to task-space motion loses rank, leading to an inability to determine inputs. This limits the system's ability to generate forces and torques in…
As autonomous systems become more prevalent in the real world, it is critical to ensure they operate safely. One approach is the use of Run Time Assurance (RTA), which is a real-time safety assurance technique that monitors a primary…
Recent advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning may soon yield paradigm-shifting benefits for aerospace systems. However, complexity and possible continued on-line learning makes neural network control systems (NNCS)…
Safety is a critical property for control systems in medicine, transportation, manufacturing, and other applications, and can be defined as ensuring positive invariance of a predefined safe set. This paper investigates the problems of…
This study addresses the challenge of ensuring safe spacecraft proximity operations, focusing on collision avoidance between a chaser spacecraft and a complex-geometry target spacecraft under disturbances. To ensure safety in such…
A fundamental capability for On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (OSAM) is inspection of the vehicle to be serviced, or the structure being assembled. This research assumes autonomous slewing to maintain situational awareness of…
Control barrier functions (CBFs) have seen widespread success in providing forward invariance and safety guarantees for dynamical control systems. A crucial limitation of discrete-time formulations is that CBFs that are nonconcave in their…
Ensuring liveness and safety of autonomous and cyber-physical systems remains a fundamental challenge, particularly when multiple safety constraints are present. This letter advances the theoretical foundations of safety-filter Quadratic…