PAC-Bayesian Optimal Control with Stability and Generalization Guarantees

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Boroujeni, Mahrokh Ghoddousi, Galimberti, Clara Lucía, Krause, Andreas, Ferrari-Trecate, Giancarlo
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Boroujeni, Mahrokh Ghoddousi
Galimberti, Clara Lucía
Krause, Andreas
Ferrari-Trecate, Giancarlo
author_facet Boroujeni, Mahrokh Ghoddousi
Galimberti, Clara Lucía
Krause, Andreas
Ferrari-Trecate, Giancarlo
contents Stochastic Nonlinear Optimal Control (SNOC) seeks to minimize a cost function that accounts for random disturbances acting on a nonlinear dynamical system. Since the expectation over all disturbances is generally intractable, a common surrogate is the empirical cost, obtained by averaging over a finite dataset of sampled noise realizations. This substitution, however, introduces the challenge of guaranteeing performance under unseen disturbances. The issue is particularly severe when the dataset is limited, as the trained controllers may overfit, leading to substantial gaps between their empirical cost and the deployment cost. In this work, we develop a PAC-Bayesian framework that establishes rigorous generalization bounds for SNOC. Building on these bounds, we propose a principled controller design method that balances empirical performance and prior knowledge. To ensure tractability, we derive computationally efficient relaxations of the bounds and employ approximate inference methods. Our framework further leverages expressive neural controller parameterizations, guaranteeing closed-loop stability. Through simulated examples, we highlight how prior knowledge can be incorporated into control design and how more reliable controllers can be synthesized for cooperative robotics.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_02858
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle PAC-Bayesian Optimal Control with Stability and Generalization Guarantees
Boroujeni, Mahrokh Ghoddousi
Galimberti, Clara Lucía
Krause, Andreas
Ferrari-Trecate, Giancarlo
Systems and Control
Stochastic Nonlinear Optimal Control (SNOC) seeks to minimize a cost function that accounts for random disturbances acting on a nonlinear dynamical system. Since the expectation over all disturbances is generally intractable, a common surrogate is the empirical cost, obtained by averaging over a finite dataset of sampled noise realizations. This substitution, however, introduces the challenge of guaranteeing performance under unseen disturbances. The issue is particularly severe when the dataset is limited, as the trained controllers may overfit, leading to substantial gaps between their empirical cost and the deployment cost. In this work, we develop a PAC-Bayesian framework that establishes rigorous generalization bounds for SNOC. Building on these bounds, we propose a principled controller design method that balances empirical performance and prior knowledge. To ensure tractability, we derive computationally efficient relaxations of the bounds and employ approximate inference methods. Our framework further leverages expressive neural controller parameterizations, guaranteeing closed-loop stability. Through simulated examples, we highlight how prior knowledge can be incorporated into control design and how more reliable controllers can be synthesized for cooperative robotics.
title PAC-Bayesian Optimal Control with Stability and Generalization Guarantees
topic Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.02858