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This paper considers the general problem of transitioning theoretically safe controllers to hardware. Concretely, we explore the application of control barrier functions (CBFs) to sampled-data systems: systems that evolve continuously but…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2020-05-14 Andrew Singletary , Yuxiao Chen , Aaron D. Ames

We study the safety verification problem for a class of distributed parameter systems described by partial differential equations (PDEs), i.e., the problem of checking whether the solutions of the PDE satisfy a set of constraints at a…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2017-08-11 Mohamadreza Ahmadi , Giorgio Valmorbida , Antonis Papachristodoulou

Providing safety guarantees for stochastic dynamical systems is a central problem in various fields, including control theory, machine learning, and robotics. Existing methods either employ Stochastic Barrier Functions (SBFs) or rely on…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2025-05-27 Luca Laurenti , Morteza Lahijanian

Neural Networks (NNs) have been successfully employed to represent the state evolution of complex dynamical systems. Such models, referred to as NN dynamic models (NNDMs), use iterative noisy predictions of NN to estimate a distribution of…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2025-05-27 Rayan Mazouz , Karan Muvvala , Akash Ratheesh , Luca Laurenti , Morteza Lahijanian

This paper introduces a new formulation for stochastic optimal control and stochastic dynamic optimization that ensures safety with respect to state and control constraints. The proposed methodology brings together concepts such as…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2021-02-19 Marcus Aloysius Pereira , Ziyi Wang , Ioannis Exarchos , Evangelos A. Theodorou

In this brief paper we introduce a robust-safety notion for differential inclusions, and we propose a general framework to certify such a notion in terms of barrier functions. While existing literature studied only what we designate by…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2023-05-08 Mohamed Maghenem , Masoumeh Ghanbarpour , Adnane Saoud

In this paper, we present a novel data-driven approach to quantify safety for non-linear, discrete-time stochastic systems with unknown noise distribution. We define safety as the probability that the system remains in a given region of the…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2024-10-10 Frederik Baymler Mathiesen , Licio Romao , Simeon C. Calvert , Luca Laurenti , Alessandro Abate

This paper presents converse theorems for safety in terms of barrier functions for unconstrained continuous-time systems modeled as differential inclusions. Via a counterexample, we show the lack of existence of autonomous and continuous…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2023-04-06 Mohamed Maghenem , Ricardo. G. Sanfelice

This paper addresses the quantitative verification of constrained occupation time in stochastic discrete-time systems, focusing on the probability of visiting a target set at least $k$ times while maintaining safety. Such cumulative…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2026-04-21 Bai Xue , Peixin Wang , C. -H. Luke Ong

This paper presents an approach to deal with safety of dynamical systems in presence of multiple non-convex unsafe sets. While optimal control and model predictive control strategies can be employed in these scenarios, they suffer from high…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2021-06-14 Gennaro Notomista , Matteo Saveriano

Guaranteeing safety for robotic and autonomous systems in real-world environments is a challenging task that requires the mitigation of stochastic uncertainties. Control barrier functions have, in recent years, been widely used for…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2022-03-31 Andrew Singletary , Mohamadreza Ahmadi , Aaron D. Ames

Control Barrier Functions (CBFs) aim to ensure safety by constraining the control input at each time step so that the system state remains within a desired safe region. This paper presents a framework for CBFs in stochastic systems in the…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2020-10-20 Andrew Clark

This paper generalizes the control barrier function framework by replacing scalar-valued functions with matrix-valued ones. Specifically, we develop barrier conditions for safe sets defined by matrix inequalities -- both semidefinite and…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2025-09-01 Pio Ong , Yicheng Xu , Ryan M. Bena , Faryar Jabbari , Aaron D. Ames

Safety-critical control systems, such as spacecraft performing proximity operations, must provide formal safety guarantees despite stochastic uncertainties from state estimation and unmodeled dynamics. Although Control Barrier Functions…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2026-04-13 Kazuya Echigo , David E. J. van Wijk , Pol Mestres , Ersin Daş , Joel W. Burdick , Aaron D. Ames

Stochastic dynamical systems have emerged as fundamental models across numerous application domains, providing powerful mathematical representations for capturing uncertain system behavior. In this paper, we address the problem of runtime…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2025-11-13 Shenghua Feng , Jie An , Fanjiang Xu

Stochastic control barrier functions (SCBFs) provide a safety-critical control framework for systems subject to stochastic disturbances by bounding the probability of remaining within a safe set. However, synthesizing a valid SCBF that…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2026-03-23 Inkyu Jang , Chams E. Mballo , Claire J. Tomlin , H. Jin Kim

Many control applications require that a system be constrained to a particular set of states, often termed as safe set. A practical and flexible method for rendering safe sets forward-invariant involves computing control input using Control…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2021-06-11 James Usevitch , Kunal Garg , Dimitra Panagou

Uncertainties arising in various control systems, such as robots that are subject to unknown disturbances or environmental variations, pose significant challenges for ensuring system safety, such as collision avoidance. At the same time,…

Robotics · Computer Science 2024-03-28 Matti Vahs , Jana Tumova

This paper proposes a new framework to compute finite-horizon safety guarantees for discrete-time piece-wise affine systems with stochastic noise of unknown distributions. The approach is based on a novel approach to synthesise a stochastic…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2023-09-12 Frederik Baymler Mathiesen , Licio Romao , Simeon C. Calvert , Alessandro Abate , Luca Laurenti

Robots deployed in unstructured, real-world environments operate under considerable uncertainty due to imperfect state estimates, model error, and disturbances. Given this real-world context, the goal of this paper is to develop controllers…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2023-02-27 Ryan K. Cosner , Preston Culbertson , Andrew J. Taylor , Aaron D. Ames