Reinforcement Learning Goal-Reaching Control with Guaranteed Lyapunov-Like Stabilizer for Mobile Robots

Reinforcement learning (RL) can be highly effective at learning goal-reaching policies, but it typically does not provide formal guarantees that the goal will always be reached. A common approach to provide formal goal-reaching guarantees is to introduce a shielding mechanism that restricts the agent to actions that satisfy predefined safety constraints. The main challenge here is integrating this mechanism with RL so that learning and exploration remain effective without becoming overly conservative. Hence, this paper proposes an RL-based control framework that provides formal goal-reaching guarantees for wheeled mobile robots operating in unstructured environments. We first design a real-time RL policy with a set of 15 carefully defined reward terms. These rewards encourage the robot to reach both static and dynamic goals while generating sufficiently smooth command signals that comply with predefined safety specifications, which is critical in practice. Second, a Lyapunov-like stabilizer layer is integrated into the benchmark RL framework as a policy supervisor to formally strengthen the goal-reaching control while preserving meaningful exploration of the state action space. The proposed framework is suitable for real-time deployment in challenging environments, as it provides a formal guarantee of convergence to the intended goal states and compensates for uncertainties by generating real-time control signals based on the current state, while respecting real-world motion constraints. The experimental results show that the proposed Lyapunov-like stabilizer consistently improves the benchmark RL policies, boosting the goal-reaching rate from 84.6% to 99.0%, sharply reducing failures, and improving efficiency.

NMPC-Augmented Visual Navigation and Safe Learning Control for Large-Scale Mobile Robots

A large-scale mobile robot (LSMR) is a high-order multibody system that often operates on loose, unconsolidated terrain, which reduces traction. This paper presents a comprehensive navigation and control framework for an LSMR that ensures stability and safety-defined performance, delivering robust operation on slip-prone terrain by jointly leveraging high-performance techniques. The proposed architecture comprises four main modules: (1) a visual pose-estimation module that fuses onboard sensors and stereo cameras to provide an accurate, low-latency robot pose, (2) a high-level nonlinear model predictive control that updates the wheel motion commands to correct robot drift from the robot reference pose on slip-prone terrain, (3) a low-level deep neural network control policy that approximates the complex behavior of the wheel-driven actuation mechanism in LSMRs, augmented with robust adaptive control to handle out-of-distribution disturbances, ensuring that the wheels accurately track the updated commands issued by high-level control module, and (4) a logarithmic safety module to monitor the entire robot stack and guarantees safe operation. The proposed low-level control framework guarantees uniform exponential stability of the actuation subsystem, while the safety module ensures the whole system-level safety during operation. Comparative experiments on a 6,000 kg LSMR actuated by two complex electro-hydrostatic drives, while synchronizing modules operating at different frequencies.

Vision-based Goal-Reaching Control for Mobile Robots Using a Hierarchical Learning Framework

Reinforcement learning (RL) is effective in many robotic applications, but it requires extensive exploration of the state-action space, during which behaviors can be unsafe. This significantly limits its applicability to large robots with complex actuators operating on unstable terrain. Hence, to design a safe goal-reaching control framework for large-scale robots, this paper decomposes the whole system into a set of tightly coupled functional modules. 1) A real-time visual pose estimation approach is employed to provide accurate robot states to 2) an RL motion planner for goal-reaching tasks that explicitly respects robot specifications. The RL module generates real-time smooth motion commands for the actuator system, independent of its underlying dynamic complexity. 3) In the actuation mechanism, a supervised deep learning model is trained to capture the complex dynamics of the robot and provide this model to 4) a model-based robust adaptive controller that guarantees the wheels track the RL motion commands even on slip-prone terrain. 5) Finally, to reduce human intervention, a mathematical safety supervisor monitors the robot, stops it on unsafe faults, and autonomously guides it back to a safe inspection area. The proposed framework guarantees uniform exponential stability of the actuation system and safety of the whole operation. Experiments on a 6,000 kg robot in different scenarios confirm the effectiveness of the proposed framework.

Robust Deep Learning Control with Guaranteed Performance for Safe and Reliable Robotization in Heavy-Duty Machinery

Today's heavy-duty mobile machines (HDMMs) face two transitions: from diesel-hydraulic actuation to clean electric systems driven by climate goals, and from human supervision toward greater autonomy. Diesel-hydraulic systems have long dominated, so full electrification, via direct replacement or redesign, raises major technical and economic challenges. Although advanced artificial intelligence (AI) could enable higher autonomy, adoption in HDMMs is limited by strict safety requirements, and these machines still rely heavily on human supervision. This dissertation develops a control framework that (1) simplifies control design for electrified HDMMs through a generic modular approach that is energy-source independent and supports future modifications, and (2) defines hierarchical control policies that partially integrate AI while guaranteeing safety-defined performance and stability. Five research questions align with three lines of investigation: a generic robust control strategy for multi-body HDMMs with strong stability across actuation types and energy sources; control solutions that keep strict performance under uncertainty and faults while balancing robustness and responsiveness; and methods to interpret and trust black-box learning strategies so they can be integrated stably and verified against international safety standards. The framework is validated in three case studies spanning different actuators and conditions, covering heavy-duty mobile robots and robotic manipulators. Results appear in five peer-reviewed publications and one unpublished manuscript, advancing nonlinear control and robotics and supporting both transitions.

LiDAR-Inertial SLAM-Based Navigation and Safety-Oriented AI-Driven Control System for Skid-Steer Robots

Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and stochastic technologies into the mobile robot navigation and control (MRNC) framework while adhering to rigorous safety standards presents significant challenges. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a comprehensively integrated MRNC framework for skid-steer wheeled mobile robots (SSWMRs), in which all components are actively engaged in real-time execution. The framework comprises: 1) a LiDAR-inertial simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithm for estimating the current pose of the robot within the built map; 2) an effective path-following control system for generating desired linear and angular velocity commands based on the current pose and the desired pose; 3) inverse kinematics for transferring linear and angular velocity commands into left and right side velocity commands; and 4) a robust AI-driven (RAID) control system incorporating a radial basis function network (RBFN) with a new adaptive algorithm to enforce in-wheel actuation systems to track each side motion commands. To further meet safety requirements, the proposed RAID control within the MRNC framework of the SSWMR constrains AI-generated tracking performance within predefined overshoot and steady-state error limits, while ensuring robustness and system stability by compensating for modeling errors, unknown RBF weights, and external forces. Experimental results verify the proposed MRNC framework performance for a 4,836 kg SSWMR operating on soft terrain.

Anti-Slip AI-Driven Model-Free Control with Global Exponential Stability in Skid-Steering Robots

Undesired lateral and longitudinal wheel slippage can disrupt a mobile robot's heading angle, traction, and, eventually, desired motion. This issue makes the robotization and accurate modeling of heavy-duty machinery very challenging because the application primarily involves off-road terrains, which are susceptible to uneven motion and severe slippage. As a step toward robotization in skid-steering heavy-duty robot (SSHDR), this paper aims to design an innovative robust model-free control system developed by neural networks to strongly stabilize the robot dynamics in the presence of a broad range of potential wheel slippages. Before the control design, the dynamics of the SSHDR are first investigated by mathematically incorporating slippage effects, assuming that all functional modeling terms of the system are unknown to the control system. Then, a novel tracking control framework to guarantee global exponential stability of the SSHDR is designed as follows: 1) the unknown modeling of wheel dynamics is approximated using radial basis function neural networks (RBFNNs); and 2) a new adaptive law is proposed to compensate for slippage effects and tune the weights of the RBFNNs online during execution. Simulation and experimental results verify the proposed tracking control performance of a 4,836 kg SSHDR operating on slippery terrain.

Obstacle Avoidance Deep Reinforcement Learning-Based Trajectory Planner with Robust Low-Level Control for Robotic Manipulators

In robotics, contemporary strategies are learning-based, characterized by a complex black-box nature and a lack of interpretability, which may pose challenges in ensuring stability and safety. To address these issues, we propose integrating an obstacle-free deep reinforcement learning (DRL) trajectory planner with a novel auto-tuning low- and joint-level control strategy, all while actively engaging in the learning phase through interactions with the environment. This approach circumvents the complexities associated with computations while also addressing nonrepetitive and random obstacle avoidance tasks. First, a model-free DRL agent to plan velocity-bounded and obstacle-free motion is employed for a manipulator with 'n' degrees of freedom (DoF) in task space through joint-level reasoning. This plan is then input into a robust subsystem-based adaptive controller, which produces the necessary torques, while the Cuckoo Search Optimization (CSO) algorithm enhances control gains to minimize the time required to reach, time taken to stabilize, the maximum deviation from the desired value, and persistent tracking error in the steady state. This approach guarantees that position and velocity errors exponentially converge to zero in an unfamiliar environment, despite unknown robotic manipulator modeling. Theoretical assertions are validated through the presentation of simulation outcomes.

Exponential Auto-Tuning Fault-Tolerant Control of N Degrees-of-Freedom Manipulators Subject to Torque Constraints

This paper presents a novel auto-tuning subsystem-based fault-tolerant control (SBFC) system designed for robot manipulator systems with n degrees of freedom. It first employs an actuator fault model to account for various faults that may occur, and second, a mathematical saturation function is incorporated to address torque constraints. Subsequently, a novel robust subsystem-based adaptive control method is proposed to direct system states to follow desired trajectories closely in the presence of input constraints, unknown modeling errors, and actuator faults, which are primary considerations of the proposed system. This ensures uniform exponential stability and sustained performance. In addition, optimal values are identified by tuning the SBFC gains and customizing the JAYA algorithm (JA), a high-performance swarm intelligence technique. Theoretical assertions are validated through the presentation of simulation outcomes.