Differentiable Safe Controller Design through Control Barrier Functions
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Abstract (arXiv)
Learning-based controllers, such as neural network (NN) controllers, can show high empirical performance but lack formal safety guarantees. To address this issue, control barrier functions (CBFs) have been applied as a safety filter to monitor and modify the outputs of learning-based controllers in order to guarantee the safety of the closed-loop system. However, such modification can be myopic with unpredictable long-term effects. In this work, we propose a safe-by-construction NN controller which employs differentiable CBF-based safety layers, and investigate the performance of safe-by-construction NN controllers in learning-based control. Specifically, two formulations of controllers are compared: one is projection-based and the other relies on our proposed set-theoretic parameterization. Both methods demonstrate improved closed-loop performance over using CBF as a separate safety filter in numerical experiments.
Key facts. Cited by 8 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Builds on 26 of its 32 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 20 Sep 2022.
Builds on
26 of 32 references.
References · 26
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14 more
- 2020Safe Optimal Control Using Stochastic Barrier Functions and Deep Forward-Backward SDEscited by 22
- 2021Computationally Efficient Safe Reinforcement Learning for Power Systemscited by 17
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Built on by
Citing papers per year: 2023: 4; 2024: 1; 2025: 2; 2026: 1.
8 papers.
- 2023Empowering Autonomous Driving with Large Language Models: A Safety Perspectivecited by 34
- 2023Physics-Informed Machine Learning for Modeling and Control of Dynamical Systemscited by 28
- 2023Safe Perception-Based Control under Stochastic Sensor Uncertainty using Conformal Predictioncited by 15
- 2024Safety Filtering While Training: Improving the Performance and Sample Efficiency of Reinforcement Learning Agentscited by 11
- 2023Learning Adaptive Safety for Multi-Agent Systemscited by 3
- 2025Deep Fictitious Play-Based Potential Differential Games for Learning Human-Like Interaction at Unsignalized Intersectionscited by 0
- 2025Tail-Safe Hedging: Explainable Risk-Sensitive Reinforcement Learning with a White-Box CBF--QP Safety Layer in Arbitrage-Free Marketscited by 0
- 2026Topological Feasibility Guarantees for Differentiable Predictive Controlcited by 0
- 2026Topological Feasibility Guarantees for Differentiable Predictive Control11 Aug 2026
- 2025Tail-Safe Hedging: Explainable Risk-Sensitive Reinforcement Learning with a White-Box CBF--QP Safety Layer in Arbitrage-Free Markets6 Oct 2025
- 2025Deep Fictitious Play-Based Potential Differential Games for Learning Human-Like Interaction at Unsignalized Intersections14 Jun 2025
- 2024Safety Filtering While Training: Improving the Performance and Sample Efficiency of Reinforcement Learning Agents15 Oct 2024
- 2023Empowering Autonomous Driving with Large Language Models: A Safety Perspective28 Nov 2023
- 2023Learning Adaptive Safety for Multi-Agent Systems19 Sep 2023
- 2023Physics-Informed Machine Learning for Modeling and Control of Dynamical Systems24 Jun 2023
- 2023Safe Perception-Based Control under Stochastic Sensor Uncertainty using Conformal Prediction1 Apr 2023