We consider abstraction-based design of output-feedback controllers for dynamical systems with a finite set of inputs and outputs against specifications in linear-time temporal logic. The usual procedure for abstraction-based controller design (ABCD) first constructs a finite-state abstraction of the underlying dynamical system, and second, uses reactive synthesis techniques to compute an abstract state-feedback controller on the abstraction. In this context, our contribution is two-fold: (I) we define a suitable relation between the original system and its abstraction which characterizes the soundness and completeness conditions for an abstract state-feedback controller to be refined to a concrete output-feedback controller for the original system, and (II) we provide an algorithm to compute a sound finite-state abstraction fulfilling this relation.
Our relation generalizes feedback-refinement relations from ABCD with state-feedback. Our algorithm for constructing sound finite-state abstractions is inspired by the simultaneous reachability and bisimulation minimization algorithm of Lee and Yannakakis. We lift their idea to the computation of an observation-equivalent system and show how sound abstractions can be obtained by stopping this algorithm at any point. Additionally, our new algorithm produces a realization of the topological closure of the input/output behavior of the original system if it is finite-state realizable.
In this paper, we introduce NNSynth, a new framework that uses machine learning techniques to guide the design of abstraction-based controllers with correctness guarantees. NNSynth utilizes neural networks (NNs) to guide the search over the space of controllers. The trained neural networks are "projected" and used for constructing a "local" abstraction of the system. An abstraction-based controller is then synthesized from such "local" abstractions. If a controller that satisfies the specifications is not found, then the best found controller is "lifted" to a neural network for additional trai…
In this paper, we propose a construction scheme for a Safe-visor architecture for sandboxing unverified controllers, e.g., artificial intelligence-based (a.k.a. AI-based) controllers, in two-players non-cooperative stochastic games. Concretely, we leverage abstraction-based approaches to construct a supervisor that checks and decides whether or not to accept the inputs provided by the unverified controller, and a safety advisor that provides fallback control inputs to ensure safety whenever the unverified controller is rejected. Moreover, by leveraging an ($ε,δ$)-approximate probabilistic rela…
In this paper, we focus on mitigating the computational complexity in abstraction-based controller synthesis for interconnected control systems. To do so, we provide a compositional framework for the construction of abstractions for interconnected systems and a bottom-up controller synthesis scheme. In particular, we propose a notion of approximate composition which makes it possible to compute an abstraction of the global interconnected system from the abstractions (possibly of different types) of its components. Finally, by leveraging our notion of approximate composition, we propose a botto…
This paper studies symbolic abstractions for nonlinear control systems using logarithmic quantization. With a logarithmic quantizer, we approximate the state and input sets, and then construct a novel discrete abstraction for nonlinear control systems. A feedback refinement relation between the constructed discrete abstraction and the original system is established. Using the constructed discrete abstraction, the safety controller synthesis problem is studied. With the discrete abstraction and the abstract specification, the existence of a safety controller is investigated, and the algorithm i…
This paper proposes a method to synthesise controllers for cyber-physical systems such that the controlled systems satisfy specifications given as linear temporal logic formulas. The focus is on systems with disturbance, where future states cannot be predicted exactly due to uncertainty in the environment. The approach used to solve this problem is to first construct a finite-state abstraction of the original system and then synthesise a controller for the abstract system. For this approach, the robust stutter bisimulation relation is introduced, which preserves the existence of controllers fo…
We consider abstraction-based design of output-feedback controllers for non-linear dynamical systems against specifications over state-based predicates in linear-time temporal logic (LTL). In this context, our contribution is two-fold: (I) we generalize feedback-refinement relations for abstraction-based output-feedback control to systems with arbitrary predicate and observation maps, and (II) we introduce a new algorithm for the synthesis of abstract output-feedback controllers w.r.t. LTL specifications over unobservable state-based predicates. Our abstraction-based output-feedback controller…
We consider the computation of resilient controllers for perturbed non-linear dynamical systems w.r.t. linear-time temporal logic specifications. We address this problem through the paradigm of Abstraction-Based Controller Design (ABCD) where a finite state abstraction of the perturbed system dynamics is constructed and utilized for controller synthesis. In this context, our contribution is twofold: (I) We construct abstractions which model the impact of occasional high disturbance spikes on the system via so called disturbance edges. (II) We show that the application of resilient reactive syn…
We propose a hierarchical control framework for the synthesis of correct-by-construction controllers for nonlinear control-affine systems with respect to reach-avoid-stay specifications. We first create a low-dimensional continuous abstraction of the system and use Sum-of-Squares (SOS) programming to obtain a low-level controller ensuring a bounded error between the two models. We then create a discrete abstraction of the continuous abstraction and use formal methods to synthesize a controller satisfying the specifications shrunk by the obtained error bound. Combining both controllers finally …
Complete Abstractions of Monotone Control Systems: From Model-based to Data-Driven Systems
University Mohammed VI Polytechnic（穆罕默德六世polytechnic大学）；LMU of Munich（慕尼黑大学）；Université Grenoble Alpes（格勒诺布尔阿尔卑斯大学）；CNRS（法国国家科学研究中心）；Grenoble-INP（格勒诺布尔国立理工学院）；CentraleSupélec（中央苏黎世高等电力学院）；Laboratoire des signaux et systèmes（信号与系统实验室）；University of California, Berkeley（加州大学伯克利分校）
We construct compositional continuous approximations for an interconnection of infinitely many discrete-time switched systems. An approximation (known as abstraction) is itself a continuous-space system, which can be used as a replacement of the original (known as concrete) system in a controller design process. Having synthesized a controller for the abstract system, the controller is refined to a more detailed controller for the concrete system. To quantify the mismatch between the output trajectory of the approximation and of that the original system, we use the notion of so-called simulati…
This paper studies the construction of symbolic abstractions for nonlinear control systems via feedback refinement relation. Both the delay-free and time-delay cases are addressed. For the delay-free case, to reduce the computational complexity, we propose a new approximation approach for the state and input sets based on a static quantizer, and then a novel symbolic model is constructed such that the original system and the symbolic model satisfy the feedback refinement relation. For the time-delay case, both static and dynamic quantizers are combined to approximate the state and input sets. …
This paper studies formal synthesis of controllers for continuous-space systems with unknown dynamics to satisfy requirements expressed as linear temporal logic formulas. Formal abstraction-based synthesis schemes rely on a precise mathematical model of the system to build a finite abstract model, which is then used to design a controller. The abstraction-based schemes are not applicable when the dynamics of the system are unknown. We propose a data-driven approach that computes the growth bound of the system using a finite number of trajectories. The growth bound together with the sampled tra…
This paper studies the synthesis of controllers for discrete-time, continuous state stochastic systems subject to omega-regular specifications using finite-state abstractions. We present a synthesis algorithm for minimizing or maximizing the probability that a discrete-time stochastic system with finite number of modes satisfies an omega-regular property. Our approach uses a finite-state abstraction of the underlying dynamics in the form of a Bounded-parameter Markov Decision Process (BMDP) arising from a finite partition of the system's domain. Such abstractions allow for a range of transitio…
Autonomous systems often have complex and possibly unknown dynamics due to, e.g., black-box components. This leads to unpredictable behaviors and makes control design with performance guarantees a major challenge. This paper presents a data-driven control synthesis framework for such systems subject to linear temporal logic on finite traces (LTLf) specifications. The framework combines a baseline (offline) controller with a novel online controller and refinement procedure that improves the baseline guarantees as new data is collected. The baseline controller is computed offline on an uncertain…
In this manuscript, we investigate symbolic abstractions that capture the behavior of piecewise-affine systems under input constraints and bounded external noise. This is accomplished by considering local affine feedback controllers that are jointly designed with the symbolic model, which ensures that an alternating simulation relation between the system and the abstraction holds. The resulting symbolic system is called a state-feedback abstraction and we show that it can be deterministic even when the original piecewise-affine system is unstable and non-deterministic. One benefit of this appr…
Saturations in control signal can challenge the stability proof of a feedback-linearization-based controller, even leading the system unstable [1]. Thus, several approaches are established to avoid reaching the saturation bound [2,3]. Meanwhile, to help design the controller for a quad-tilt-rotor, [1] modeled a tilt vehicle with implementing the feedback-linearization-based controllers. In this article, we provide a gait plan for this tilt vehicle and control it utilizing the feedback linearization. Since saturations exist in the control signals, we study the stability based on Lyapunov theory…
Temporal logic has been widely used to express complex task specifications for cyber-physical systems (CPSs). One way to synthesize a controller for CPS under temporal logic constraints is to first abstract the CPS as a discrete transition system, and then apply formal methods. This approach, however, is computationally demanding and its scalability suffers due to the curse of dimensionality. In this paper, we propose a control barrier function (CBF) approach to abstraction-free control synthesis under a linear temporal logic (LTL) constraint. We first construct the deterministic Rabin automat…
We consider the optimal distributed controller design problem subject to two structural requirements: locality, i.e. available measurements and sub-controllers' interactions are governed by a graph structure, and relative feedback, i.e. only differences of measurements are available to the controller. We formalize controller locality in terms of the controller's transfer function, state-space realization, or resulting closed-loop mapping. We demonstrate that the relative feedback requirement can be written as a convex constraint on the controller and (in special cases) on the resulting closed-…
The design of an observer-based state feedback (OBSF) controller with guaranteed passivity properties for port-Hamiltonian systems (PHS) is addressed using linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). The observer gain is freely chosen and the LMIs conditions such that the state feedback is equivalent to control by interconnection with an input strictly passive (ISP) and/or an output strictly passive (OSP) and zero state detectable (ZSD) port-Hamiltonian controller are established. It is shown that the proposed controller exponentially stabilizes a class of infinite-dimensional PHS and asymptotically st…
An Experimental Comparison of Sliding Mode and Immersion and Invariance Adaptive Controllers forPosition-feedback Tracking of a Simple Mechanical System with Friction
In this work, we propose an abstraction and refinement methodology for the controller synthesis of discrete-time stochastic systems to enforce complex logical properties expressed by deterministic finite automata (a.k.a. DFA). Our proposed scheme is based on a notion of so-called $(ε,δ)$-approximate probabilistic relations, allowing one to quantify the similarity between stochastic systems modeled by discrete-time stochastic games and their corresponding finite abstractions. Leveraging this type of relations, the lower bound for the probability of satisfying the desired specifications can be w…
Decentralized Abstractions and Timed Constrained Planning of a General Class of Coupled Multi-Agent Systems
ACCESS Linnaeus Center, School of Electrical Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology（瑞典皇家理工学院电气工程学院 ACCESS 林奈中心）；KTH Center for Autonomous Systems（KTH 自主系统中心）；Control Systems Lab, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens（雅典国立技术大学机械工程系控制系统实验室）
This paper studies the reduction (abstraction) of finite-state transition systems for control synthesis problems. We revisit the notion of alternating simulation equivalence (ASE), a more relaxed condition than alternating bisimulations, to relate systems and their abstractions. As with alternating bisimulations, ASE preserves the property that the existence of a controller for the abstraction is necessary and sufficient for a controller to exist for the original system. Moreover, being a less stringent condition, ASE can reduce systems further to produce smaller abstractions. We provide an al…
Underactuated systems pose the challenge of being able to control a plant whose degrees of freedom are not necessarily directly linked to an actuator or where such a relationship is not straightforward. Rotary inverted pendulum is an example of such systems, which on its simplest representation consists of a pendulum whose vertical angle should be taken up to the upward unstable position based on the impulse given from another bar and an appropriate control strategy, bar that is controlled by an electrical motor. This problem is often tackled by linear control theory with state-feedback contro…
This paper proposes a data-driven state feedback controller that enables reference tracking for nonlinear discrete-time systems. The controller is designed based on the identified inverse model of the system and a given reference model, assuming that the identification of the inverse model is carried out using only the system's state/input measurements. When its results are provided, we present conditions that guarantee a certain level of reference tracking performance, regardless of the identification method employed for the inverse model. Specifically, when Gaussian process regression (GPR) …
Symbolic control is an abstraction-based controller synthesis approach that provides, algorithmically, certifiable-by-construction controllers for cyber-physical systems. Symbolic control approaches usually assume that full-state information is available which is not suitable for many real-world applications with partially-observable states or output information. This article introduces a framework for output-feedback symbolic control. We propose relations between original systems and their symbolic models based on outputs. They enable designing symbolic controllers and refining them to enforc…
