Robust Safety-Critical Control for Dynamic Robotics

Abstract: We present a novel method of optimal robust control through quadratic programs that offers tracking stability while subject to input and state-based constraints as well as safety-critical constraints for nonlinear dynamical robotic systems in the presence of model uncertainty. The proposed method formulates robust control Lyapunov and barrier functions to provide guarantees of stability and safety in the presence of model uncertainty. We evaluate our proposed control design on dynamic walking of a five-link planar bipedal robot subject to contact force constraints as well as safety-critical precise foot placements on stepping stones, all while subject to model uncertainty. We conduct preliminary experimental validation of the proposed controller on a rectilinear spring-cart system under different types of model uncertainty and perturbations.