Backup-Based Safety Filters: A Comparative Review of Backup CBF, Model Predictive Shielding, and gatekeeper

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Kim, Taekyung, Menon, Aswin D., Trivedi, Akshunn, Panagou, Dimitra
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
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author Kim, Taekyung
Menon, Aswin D.
Trivedi, Akshunn
Panagou, Dimitra
author_facet Kim, Taekyung
Menon, Aswin D.
Trivedi, Akshunn
Panagou, Dimitra
contents This paper revisits three backup-based safety filters -- Backup Control Barrier Functions (Backup CBF), Model Predictive Shielding (MPS), and gatekeeper -- through a unified comparative framework. Using a common safety-filter abstraction and shared notation, we make explicit both their common backup-policy structure and their key algorithmic differences. We compare the three methods through their filter-inactive sets, i.e., the states where the nominal policy is left unchanged. In particular, we show that MPS is a special case of gatekeeper, and we further relate gatekeeper to the interior of the Backup CBF inactive set within the implicit safe set. This unified view also highlights a key source of conservatism in backup-based safety filters: safety is often evaluated through the feasibility of a backup maneuver, rather than through the nominal policy's continued safe execution. The paper is intended as a compact tutorial and review that clarifies the theoretical connections and differences among these methods.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_02401
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Backup-Based Safety Filters: A Comparative Review of Backup CBF, Model Predictive Shielding, and gatekeeper
Kim, Taekyung
Menon, Aswin D.
Trivedi, Akshunn
Panagou, Dimitra
Robotics
Systems and Control
This paper revisits three backup-based safety filters -- Backup Control Barrier Functions (Backup CBF), Model Predictive Shielding (MPS), and gatekeeper -- through a unified comparative framework. Using a common safety-filter abstraction and shared notation, we make explicit both their common backup-policy structure and their key algorithmic differences. We compare the three methods through their filter-inactive sets, i.e., the states where the nominal policy is left unchanged. In particular, we show that MPS is a special case of gatekeeper, and we further relate gatekeeper to the interior of the Backup CBF inactive set within the implicit safe set. This unified view also highlights a key source of conservatism in backup-based safety filters: safety is often evaluated through the feasibility of a backup maneuver, rather than through the nominal policy's continued safe execution. The paper is intended as a compact tutorial and review that clarifies the theoretical connections and differences among these methods.
title Backup-Based Safety Filters: A Comparative Review of Backup CBF, Model Predictive Shielding, and gatekeeper
topic Robotics
Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.02401