# Observer-based Control Barrier Functions for Safety Critical Systems

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.00923 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.00923/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 3 Oct 2021.

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Safe Perception-Based Control under Stochastic Sensor Uncertainty using Conformal Prediction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.00194/) (2023)
- [Safe Uncertainty-Aware Learning of Robotic Suturing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.16596/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This paper considers the safety-critical control design problem with output measurements. An observer-based safety control framework that integrates the estimation error quantified observer and the control barrier function (CBF) approach is proposed. The function approximation technique is employed to approximate the uncertainties introduced by the state estimation error, and an adaptive CBF approach is proposed to design the safe controller which is obtained by solving a convex quadratic program (QP). Theoretical results for CBFs with a relative degree 1 and a higher relative degree are given individually. The effectiveness of the proposed control approach is demonstrated by two numerical examples.