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Main Authors: Domberg, Fabian, Schildbach, Georg
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.02552
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author Domberg, Fabian
Schildbach, Georg
author_facet Domberg, Fabian
Schildbach, Georg
contents Learning-based controllers are often purposefully kept out of real-world applications due to concerns about their safety and reliability. We explore how state-of-the-art world models in Model-Based Reinforcement Learning can be utilized beyond the training phase to ensure a deployed policy only operates within regions of the state-space it is sufficiently familiar with. This is achieved by continuously monitoring discrepancies between a world model's predictions and observed system behavior during inference. It allows for triggering appropriate measures, such as an emergency stop, once an error threshold is surpassed. This does not require any task-specific knowledge and is thus universally applicable. Simulated experiments on established robot control tasks show the effectiveness of this method, recognizing changes in local robot geometry and global gravitational magnitude. Real-world experiments using an agile quadcopter further demonstrate the benefits of this approach by detecting unexpected forces acting on the vehicle. These results indicate how even in new and adverse conditions, safe and reliable operation of otherwise unpredictable learning-based controllers can be achieved.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_02552
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle World Models for Anomaly Detection during Model-Based Reinforcement Learning Inference
Domberg, Fabian
Schildbach, Georg
Robotics
Artificial Intelligence
Learning-based controllers are often purposefully kept out of real-world applications due to concerns about their safety and reliability. We explore how state-of-the-art world models in Model-Based Reinforcement Learning can be utilized beyond the training phase to ensure a deployed policy only operates within regions of the state-space it is sufficiently familiar with. This is achieved by continuously monitoring discrepancies between a world model's predictions and observed system behavior during inference. It allows for triggering appropriate measures, such as an emergency stop, once an error threshold is surpassed. This does not require any task-specific knowledge and is thus universally applicable. Simulated experiments on established robot control tasks show the effectiveness of this method, recognizing changes in local robot geometry and global gravitational magnitude. Real-world experiments using an agile quadcopter further demonstrate the benefits of this approach by detecting unexpected forces acting on the vehicle. These results indicate how even in new and adverse conditions, safe and reliable operation of otherwise unpredictable learning-based controllers can be achieved.
title World Models for Anomaly Detection during Model-Based Reinforcement Learning Inference
topic Robotics
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.02552