A model-free approach to control barrier functions using funnel control

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Lanza, Lukas, Köhler, Johannes, Dennstädt, Dario, Berger, Thomas, Worthmann, Karl
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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_version_ 1866913894955483136
author Lanza, Lukas
Köhler, Johannes
Dennstädt, Dario
Berger, Thomas
Worthmann, Karl
author_facet Lanza, Lukas
Köhler, Johannes
Dennstädt, Dario
Berger, Thomas
Worthmann, Karl
contents Control barrier functions (CBFs) are a popular approach to design feedback laws that achieve safety guarantees for nonlinear systems. The CBF-based controller design relies on the availability of a model to select feasible inputs from the set of CBF-based controls. In this paper, we develop a model-free approach to design CBF-based control laws, eliminating the need for knowledge of system dynamics or parameters. Specifically, we address safety requirements characterized by a time-varying distance to a reference trajectory in the output space and construct a CBF that depends only on the measured output. Utilizing this particular CBF, we determine a subset of CBF-based controls without relying on a model of the dynamics by using techniques from funnel control. The latter is a model-free high-gain adaptive control methodology, which achieves tracking guarantees via reactive feedback. In this paper, we discover and establish a connection between the modular controller synthesis via zeroing CBFs and model-free reactive feedback. The theoretical results are illustrated by a numerical simulation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_17887
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A model-free approach to control barrier functions using funnel control
Lanza, Lukas
Köhler, Johannes
Dennstädt, Dario
Berger, Thomas
Worthmann, Karl
Optimization and Control
Control barrier functions (CBFs) are a popular approach to design feedback laws that achieve safety guarantees for nonlinear systems. The CBF-based controller design relies on the availability of a model to select feasible inputs from the set of CBF-based controls. In this paper, we develop a model-free approach to design CBF-based control laws, eliminating the need for knowledge of system dynamics or parameters. Specifically, we address safety requirements characterized by a time-varying distance to a reference trajectory in the output space and construct a CBF that depends only on the measured output. Utilizing this particular CBF, we determine a subset of CBF-based controls without relying on a model of the dynamics by using techniques from funnel control. The latter is a model-free high-gain adaptive control methodology, which achieves tracking guarantees via reactive feedback. In this paper, we discover and establish a connection between the modular controller synthesis via zeroing CBFs and model-free reactive feedback. The theoretical results are illustrated by a numerical simulation.
title A model-free approach to control barrier functions using funnel control
topic Optimization and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.17887