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Friday 2 October

Systems and Control · Cross-listed from physics.soc-ph

Performance of Zero-determinant Strategies in Repeated Games without Discounting

Zero-determinant (ZD) strategies are a class of strategies in repeated games, which unilaterally control payoffs. It has been shown that several ZD strategies promote cooperation in social dilemma games. It has been widely believed that the performance of ZD strategies is expressed as “unilaterally enforce linear relations between payoffs”. However, in order to interpret properties of ZD strategies in repeated games without discounting, previous studies assumed that the limit of the Cesaro average of the probability distribution of the action profile exists. Here, we explain the performance of ZD strategies without this assumption, which leads to a stronger result than previous ones.
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Systems and Control · Cross-listed from math.OC

Data-Driven Static Output-Feedback Control for Multi-Agent Systems

This work proposes a data-driven framework that synthesizes output-feedback control for linear time-invariant multi-agent systems (MAS). We first develop two algorithms that use offline data samples of state and input trajectories to determine a Nash equilibrium (NE) for MAS. Next, we formulate a semidefinite program that, given the NE solution, computes the static output-feedback controllers for the agents in MAS. Compared to prior work, virtues of our framework include weaker controllability assumptions, the absence of online information and data-driven estimation of states. Next, we use the proposed framework to design control schemes for voltage and frequency regulation for nonlinear multi-nodal electrical networks with grid-forming and grid-following inverters. Thus, compared to prior work that implements their data-driven frameworks in small-scale numerical examples, we validate the performance of our data-driven framework in high-fidelity nonlinear models of MAS. This implementation in realistic MAS provides insights that small-scale numerical examples may fail to capture. Results show successful grid stabilization and provision of regulation services from the inverters in the grid using our proposed framework. It can attain up to 78% less overshoot and 30% faster settling time than traditional strategies such as proportional-integral control.
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Thursday 1 October

Systems and Control · Cross-listed from math.OC

Control of Markov Jump Linear Systems with Uncertain Lumpable Cluster Observations

In this paper, we consider the control of Markov jump linear systems when the active system mode is not exactly known. We rather assume that this true mode is only known to belong to an observed cluster of modes, making both the dynamics and the associated transition probabilities uncertain. We construct a min-max optimal control problem in this setting, with the objective of robust regulation. Using results in regularized least mean-square optimization, we describe how the solution of this problem can be reduced to a Riccati recursion, such that the controller depends only on knowledge of which cluster the mode lies in. We subsequently establish convergence of the recursion and stability of the resulting closed-loop system. A numerical example illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.
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All authors Carlos A. F. Persiani, Ram Padmanabhan, Melkior Ornik, Marco H. Terra

Systems and Control

Modular Model Order Reduction for Inverter-Based Power Systems with Stability and Accuracy Guarantees

This paper proposes a modular model order reduction framework for large-scale power grids integrated with renewable energy sources. The proposed framework has the advantage of reducing individual sub-areas independently while retaining the power grid interconnection structure. Moreover, given a user-defined accuracy specification on the overall reduced-order interconnected power grid, corresponding target specifications for the individual reduced sub-areas are determined: satisfaction of such individual specifications guarantees the overall user-defined accuracy specification, while also preserving the stability of the overall reduced-order interconnected power grid. The proposed framework is validated on a modified IEEE 118-bus system (where synchronous generators have been replaced by inverter-based resources) by assessing the accuracy specification satisfaction of the overall reduced-order interconnected power grid, in terms of frequency response, stability, active power, and sub-synchronous behaviour when injected with disturbances.
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All authors Hanqing Zhang, Pudong Ge, Mohammad Fahim Shakib, Adrià Junyent-Ferré, Balarko Chaudhuri, Luuk Poort, Lars A. L. Janssen, Giordano Scarciotti

Systems and Control

SD-DPC: Sparse Dictionary Differentiable Predictive Control

We present sparse dictionary differentiable predictive control (SD-DPC), a framework for learning sparse, interpretable feedback policies for nonlinear systems from data. A prediction model is first identified by rollout-based sparse identification of nonlinear dynamics (SINDy), building on gradient-based and multistep formulations. The policy is then parameterized as a sparse combination of dictionary functions and trained by differentiating a constrained finite-horizon predictive-control objective through this model, so that its terms are selected by closed-loop performance rather than by imitating a previously trained controller. The result is an explicit feedback law with only a handful of terms. Across three benchmark control problems, SD-DPC satisfies the constraints in all test scenarios, outperforms a policy distilled onto the same terms by up to an order of magnitude, and requires orders of magnitude less memory and online computation than an optimization benchmark, while admitting explicit sensitivity bounds.
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Systems and Control · Cross-listed from math.OC

Accelerated Safe Gradient Flow

This letter introduces an accelerated safe gradient flow (A-SGF) for strongly convex constrained optimization problems. The A-SGF filters a nominal second-order accelerated flow through a second-order control barrier function quadratic program. We establish conditions for strict feasibility and local Lipschitz continuity of the resulting vector field, prove forward invariance of a lifted safe set, and show that its unique equilibrium is the constrained minimizer. A variational Lyapunov analysis isolates the effect of the safety correction and gives explicit conditions on the barrier gains under which A-SGF retains the same convergence rate as the unconstrained Nesterov accelerated method. A nonlinear 2D example demonstrate anytime feasibility and faster convergence of the algorithm.
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Systems and Control

Towards a Theory of Quantitative Vulnerability Analysis for Engineering Systems

Since the 1980s, risk analysis for engineering systems has been defined based on a tuple of scenarios, $\mathcal{S}$, likelihoods, $L$, and consequences, $C$, where $Risk = (\mathcal{S},L,C)$. We argue that equating this triplet with risk alone is insufficient and potentially misleading. Instead, we define this tuple as a vulnerability space $\mathcal{V} = (\mathcal{S},L,C)$, which becomes risk only when one makes specific interpretations of likelihood and consequence. Here, an interpretation has mathematical meaning, and defines a map that assigns data elements about system vulnerability to a perspective. Formally, we define a vulnerability perspective as a specific choice of interpretations of likelihood and consequence data that allows vulnerability analysis measures to be defined and analyzed. We argue that risk is only one of four common perspectives on $\mathcal{V}$ and demonstrate mathematically why each perspective should remain a distinct concept. First, we show how interpretation of $C$ as a set-valued function produces reliability measures, not risk measures. Then, we show how interpretation of $L$ via possibility theory will produce adversarial and safety measures distinct from risk. This new theoretical framework clarifies the conceptual, mathematical, and practical differences between risk, reliability, adversarial, and safety perspectives—four common engineering system analyses often conflated in the literature. A consequence of our theory is that no single perspective will reveal all vulnerabilities of an engineering system, suggesting decision-making via risk analysis may incur unavoidable and underappreciated tradeoffs from other vulnerability perspectives.
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Systems and Control · Cross-listed from cs.RO

Reconstruct, Practice, Go Real: Guided Self-Improvement for Embodied Agents

Building reliable robot capabilities across diverse tasks requires substantial human effort to develop and maintain skills, design rewards, and integrate perception with control. We present Reconstruct, Practice, Go Real (RPG), a framework for autonomous improvement of robot execution systems without updating model weights. RPG identifies manipulation capabilities in an offline dataset and constructs related practice tasks in simulation. During practice, RPG uses execution feedback, privileged simulator state, and available dataset videos to diagnose failures. It develops new reusable symbolic skills, refines existing skills, and revises the system prompt based on these diagnoses. Cross-task evaluation tests individual candidate changes and merged revisions before they are retained for reuse. At test time, a multimodal LLM uses the resulting system prompt and skill library to coordinate perception and robot control. On held-out initializations of 22 manipulation tasks, RPG improves task success from 28.6% after the first practice round to 95.0% after 15 rounds, outperforming all evaluated baselines, including ASPIRE (75.5%) and CaP-Agent0 powered by GPT-6 Astra Pro (60.0%). After a common calibration and hardware-adaptation procedure, the frozen system succeeds in all 30 physical trials, with ten trials on each of three tasks. Project Website: https://rpg-robot.github.io/
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All authors Yen-Jen Wang, Haozhe Jiang, Shuying Deng, Haoru Xue, Weirui Ye, Rocky Duan, Nika Haghtalab, S. Shankar Sastry, Pieter Abbeel, Haozhi Qi

Systems and Control

Minimal Experiments for Robust Stabilization: Information, Spectral Geometry, and Duration

On broad classes of linear systems, the shortest experiments are almost as good as the best possible ones. For $n$ states and $m$ inputs, the shortest input sequences that support robust data-driven stabilization of every controllable plant have $mn+1$ steps with exact states and $m(n+1)$ with noisy states. We show that, when the spectral radius is bounded and the spectrum is well separated near the unit circle, these sequences tolerate a fixed fraction of the error level achievable by any experiment, even one designed with full plant knowledge and allowed to use any finite duration. This constant-factor comparison can fail for slowly actuated systems. For $A=I+hG$ with controllability depth $\nu\ge2$, short experiments lose a factor of order $h^{\nu-1}$, and duration of order $1/h$ is both necessary and sufficient to recover a fixed fraction of the optimal tolerance.
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Systems and Control

Feasibility of Simultaneous Input-Output Constraints for Tracking in a Class of LTI Systems: Part I

This paper addresses simultaneous input and output constraint satisfaction for a class of multi-input linear time-invariant systems with state feedback and integral action. A control barrier function (CBF)-based governor modifies the reference command while preserving the nominal feedback controller. Necessary and sufficient conditions are derived under which the governor is feasible at every state of a prescribed operating set and ensures simultaneous input and output constraint satisfaction, forward invariance, and bounded closed-loop solutions. The paper also shows that these conditions need not be met for certain choices of the CBF governor parameters due to conflicts between input and output constraints. A systematic design procedure is proposed that first searches for feasible free parameters and, if necessary, proposes a relaxation in the input constraint that restores feasibility. A companion paper provides numerical examples and counterexamples illustrating these results.
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Systems and Control

Decentralized Power-Optimal Coordination for Spacecraft Swarms Using Time-Varying Magnetorquer Actuation

This paper presents a decentralized power-optimal coordination framework for magnetically actuated spacecraft swarms. Swarms that form large space structures overcome the aperture limit set by the launch vehicle and hold their shape on solar-generated power alone. Magnetic actuation is propellant-free and generated by a magnetorquer, which is commonly used for attitude control. However, every spacecraft interacts with every other within range, and its effect depends on the actuation power and a carrier frequency. We therefore design a decentralized power-optimal framework to jointly derive the interaction graph, frequency grouping, and controller gains. Our decentralized controller preserves angular momentum, which is a nonholonomic constraint. Then, this framework for connected groups whose memberships overlap across carriers guarantees that the relative position errors, the absolute attitude errors, and the imbalance of the reaction-wheel momenta converge to the desired states under the decentralized power-optimal allocation. A closed-loop simulation of a thousand spacecraft with the complete alternating-current interaction confirms the framework. A fast approximate integration with a proven error bound extends the framework to a long-horizon orbital reconfiguration held with high precision.
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Systems and Control

Local Consistency Does Not Guarantee Global Conservation: Auditing Zero-Shot Composition of Airway Flow Operators

Neural operators approximate PDE solutions within a geometry family, but independently learned local operators need not form a consistent global simulator. We study frozen, single-pass composition for steady incompressible flow in idealized two-dimensional airway trees. Separate Tube, bifurcation, and trifurcation DeepONets are trained on 4,872 primitive CFD cases using field supervision and auxiliary divergence, port-flux, component-balance, and port-pressure penalties. The validation-selected deployment is frozen before whole-tree CFD fields are inspected and assembled without tree training, iterative coupling, flux correction, or CFD-informed adjustment. It retains major flow patterns and controlled pathology responses with 0.204-0.215 s CPU inference, but has a 22.68% prescribed-inlet-normalized external residual. A post-hoc sensitivity protocol, frozen before new training and evaluation, repeats Data, Div, and Full models across three seeds with Tube fixed. Relative to Data, Full reduces primitive composite scores by 26.7% for Y2 and 26.4% for Y3 and reduces assembled component-residual and interface-mismatch RMS by 7.2% and 16.6%, respectively. Nevertheless, mean tree velocity error increases by 7.5%, while external residual increases from 17.49 +/- 4.38% to 26.77 +/- 3.65%. Local regularization can therefore improve primitive and assembled local diagnostics without ensuring accurate global fields or conservation.
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All authors Nichula Sathmith Wasalathilaka, Navodya Heshan Samarasinghe Dhanujaya Suraweera, Kevin Dawson, Chinthaka Jacob Mervyn Parakrama Bandara Ekanayake, Roshan Godaliyadda

Systems and Control

A Dynamic Generalized Kalman Consensus Filter for Switching Sensor Networks

Distributed state estimation is critical for applications such as surveillance, autonomous navigation, and wide-area monitoring, where sensor agents must cooperatively track targets using only local measurements and neighbor-to-neighbor communication. Existing distributed filters have been shown to achieve accurate estimation even under sparse inter-agent communication and limited sensing ranges. However, many of these methods rely on consensus parameters that depend on global properties of the communication graph, such as the maximum degree of the graph, and are therefore sensitive to changes in network topology. This limitation is particularly significant in sensor networks with mobile agents, where communication links change over time. This paper presents a Dynamic Generalized Kalman Consensus Filter for target tracking in sensor networks with switching communication topologies. The proposed algorithm computes information-based consensus weights using only locally available quantities, eliminating the need for global network parameters. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the proposed algorithm maintains estimation accuracy under switching network topologies and outperforms existing distributed filters in the given tracking problem.
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Systems and Control

Interactive Power Flow in the Browser

This paper introduces tellegen, an open source framework for interactive power flow (PF) and optimal power flow (OPF) studies that run in the browser. This provides intuitive and democratized access to power system analysis tools compiled to WebAssembly. A user can drag and drop a case file, click and drag to change a nodal demand or line rating, preview the impacts via sensitivity analysis, and obtain an exact re-solve on release. User case files and results stay entirely on the device: tellegen transmits zero Critical Energy/Electric Infrastructure Information (CEII). The framework comprises a core numerical engine for PF and OPF, reusable browser components, saved studies, and structured WebMCP tools for agentic interaction. We evaluate the transmission OPF solver by comparing objectives with PGLib baselines; the distribution PF solver by comparing voltages and currents with OpenDSS; and the WebAssembly execution times by comparing with PowerModels.jl. On realistic synthetic grids, WebAssembly OPF solves take only 25-43% longer than native binary solves. The implementation shows how an engineer can distribute an executable numerical study as a URL, reducing installation and hosting requirements while keeping case data local.
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All authors Samuel Talkington, Frederik Geth, Qian Zhang, Le Xie, Skyler Liu

Systems and Control

A two-stage approach to satellite constellation optimization: classical and QUBO formulations

The design of satellite constellations for Earth observation requires balancing spatial coverage, revisit time, cost, and operational complexity. This paper considers the problem of designing the orbits of a given number of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) or Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) satellites to maximize the spatial and temporal resolution achieved over a prescribed set of ground targets. This kind of problem is inherently nonconvex and possibly combinatorial, making its solution computationally demanding for large constellations and target sets. To address this challenge, we propose a two-stage optimization strategy that separates spatial-coverage design from temporal-resolution optimization, thereby reducing the complexity of the overall problem. Two variants of the method are developed. The first employs continuous decision variables during the spatial-optimization stage, whereas the second discretizes these variables and reformulates the problem as a Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) problem. The latter formulation enables the use of efficient classical QUBO solvers and is directly compatible with quantum-annealing hardware. The proposed framework provides a scalable approach to the design of heterogeneous LEO and VLEO Earth-observation constellations and establishes a pathway for exploiting emerging quantum-optimization technologies in satellite mission design. Preliminary simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the strategy.
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Systems and Control

A local recursive least squares approach for discrete-time adaptive fuzzy control

This paper proposes a local recursive least squares (RLS) estimation strategy for discrete-time adaptive fuzzy control of nonlinear systems represented in quasi-Linear Parameter Varying (qLPV)/Takagi–Sugeno (TS) form. Unknown nonlinear terms are approximated by a constant-consequent TS fuzzy model, and the consequent parameters are updated by a membership-function-weighted RLS law with a forgetting factor. The proposed estimator keeps a different covariance for each rule, considerably reducing the memory footprint of the least-squares updates. The adaptation is also simplified since each rule is only adapted when it is active. From these properties, we are capable of showing that the adaptation law ensures bounded local adaptation errors. Building upon this adaptation law, Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) synthesis conditions are presented for matched, sector-bounded and norm-bounded unknown nonlinearities, guaranteeing ultimate uniform boundedness of the adaptive control system in closed loop. Three numerical examples are presented to illustrate the adaptive control conditions in the three cases: a planar manipulator with unknown gravity direction, a two-tank system with unknown coupling, and a Brushless DC (BLDC) motor acting as thrust for an efficiency vehicle.
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Systems and Control

Differentiable Hybrid-Action Neural Feedback Control for District Heating Networks

Many cyber-physical systems require control policies that combine continuous setpoints with discrete operational de- cisions, such as equipment switching, mode selection, or resource scheduling. Discrete actions are not differentiable, which ob- structs gradient-based policy training, while conventional mixed- integer formulations remain costly to solve online. This paper proposes a hybrid-action neural controller (HANC) in which a continuous branch, a categorical branch and a differentiable assembly layer jointly generate commands that satisfy complex actuator constraints by construction. Categorical decisions are handled using a straight-through Gumbel estimator, enabling the policy to be trained by backpropagation through time over full closed-loop rollouts. The proposed framework is deployed on a district heating network (DHN) featuring multiple heat generation units and stratified thermal energy storage. Its performance is evaluated on a simulation of a real DHN located at RSE SpA in Italy. The resulting policy jointly learns switching decisions and continu- ous operating setpoints. Under dynamic electricity pricing, the learned controller reduces operating cost by 30% compared to a rule-based industrial baseline. We also show that, compared with a deterministic straight-through relaxation, injecting noise during training achieves similar cost while reducing hard switching by an order of magnitude, and attribute this difference to the wider decision margins of the resulting policy.
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All authors Nicolas Kirsch, Corrado Sgadari, Alessio La Bella, Giancarlo Ferrari-Trecate

Systems and Control

Finite-Data Safety Informativity Under Dynamic Asymmetric Actuation

When the system model is not fully known, measurement error and limited excitation can leave several models consistent with the same finite data. A command judged safe for one model may fail for another, while limited control authority can prevent the corrective action needed to preserve safety. To ensure safety under model uncertainty and asymmetric input limits, we develop a finite-data certificate that determines whether a command can enforce a prescribed safety inequality. For a linearly parameterized safety channel with exactly known regressors and bounded aggregate residual error, we derive a support formula for the worst-case safety contribution of all data-consistent models. The formula identifies the regressor directions that admit a finite bound, allowing rank-deficient records to contribute to safety certification. Using certified componentwise bounds on actuator tracking error yields an affine inequality with a necessary and sufficient test for pointwise command feasibility. The affine inequality reduces computation of the closest certified command to a scalar root-finding problem. It also yields a closed-form gate that selects the largest certified fraction of a prescribed command segment. The proposed certificate guarantees output safety within its operating domain, provided the feedback is locally Lipschitz and the uncertainty bounds remain valid. Domain retention and full-state continuation extend this guarantee to all time. A vehicle study demonstrates that output safety can be certified from finite measurements in a safety-critical setting with model and actuator uncertainty.
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Systems and Control

Token Economy Design for Fair and Efficient Highway Congestion Management with Express Lanes

We study the design of a token economy for highway lane allocation that aims to improve fairness without sacrificing traffic efficiency. Motivated by the San Mateo 101 Express Lanes Project, we consider a setting in which high-occupancy vehicles have unrestricted access to an express lane, while the remaining users can alternate between regular and express lanes by earning and spending nonmonetary tokens. We model the resulting interaction as a finite-population dynamic congestion game with heterogeneous time preferences and limited-information evolutionary policy revisions. Building on a mean-field approximation, we derive token prices that enforce the system-optimal lane split while inducing fairness over time through turn-taking. The scheme is evaluated in a microscopic traffic simulation with real-world demand data. The results show that the proposed prices yield nearly the same average travel time as a baseline scenario in which no lane is reserved as an express lane, while substantially reducing urgency-weighted perceived travel time. These findings highlight token economies as a promising alternative to monetary congestion pricing for fairer management of scarce road capacity.
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All authors Leonardo Pedroso, Juan Pablo Bertucci, W.P.M.H. Heemels, Mauro Salazar

Systems and Control

Building Seasonal Highways for Residential Energy Hubs: Sizing, planning and operating thermal energy storage

The operation of residential energy hubs with multiple energy carriers (electricity, heat, mobility) poses a significant challenge due to the energy storage differences in time-constants, round-trip efficiencies and self-discharge rates. Usually, thermal storage exhibits flexibility in yearly planning optimizations or long-term scenarios. However, as optimization horizons shrink (1-48hs) so does their supplied value due to the lower round-trip efficiencies. To avoid this early depletion during operation this paper proposes a data-driven highway to steer the short-term daily control towards long-term optimality. The proposed methodology also presents how to optimally size the thermal storage and avoid yearly simulations and how all of this is related to nonlinearities in the daily operation. The presented framework links seasonal and daily optimizations through dynamic terminal sets and value functions. The seasonally-aware nonlinear economic model predictive controller achieves the most balanced performance, with the second best mean grid cost of all MPCs at -\texteuro 209. It also achieves better battery degradation control than its linear counterparts (between 26-34%) and the best thermal comfort of the nonlinear benchmarks. Nevertheless, the data-driven seasonal highway restrains the ability to control battery degradation and slightly increases computational time.
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All authors Dario Slaifstein, Mohammad Khosravi, Gautham Ram Chandra Mouli, Laura Ramirez-Elizondo, Pavol Bauer

Systems and Control · Cross-listed from math.OC

On the Multi-Index, Multi-Rate, and Multi-Phase Dynamics of Decoder-Only Language Models: A Unified Hybrid Framework for Generative and Agentic Systems

Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly deployed as computational engines in autonomous decision-making and planning loops, yet their systems and control treatment remains hindered by architectural simplifications, index conflations, and informal descriptions of tool interactions. This paper presents a control-theoretic formulation of decoder-only language models as multi-index, multi-rate systems, and sets the stage for a stochastic hybrid systems framework to govern the multi-phase dynamics of agentic tool interaction. We formalize the architecture across three hierarchically coupled evolution indices: (i) an ultrafast feedforward cascade of transformer blocks across layer depth, where layer normalization is cast as a spherical projection and key–value caching is proven to be an exact internal state realization via causal prefix invariance; (ii) an uncontrolled stochastic difference recursion over token generation steps, where finite context truncation induces a time-homogeneous Markov chain; and (iii) an autonomous mode-switching mechanism governing transitions between token generation and tool execution regimes, where tool invocations are triggered upon trajectory arrival at switching manifolds, followed by exogenous state jump maps that augment the context string with external observations. By defining a prompt-dependent evaluator over successive evaluable claims, we obtain a task-level error process whose fault-free histories and expected error growth admit bounds under conditional fault-hazard and error-drift assumptions.
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Systems and Control

Fixed-Time Voltage Regulation in Distribution Networks with Impedance Awareness

This letter introduces an optimization-based fixed time control algorithm for solving the voltage regulation problem of a radial and balanced power distribution network. The proposed algorithm requires no prior knowledge of the exact network impedance (resistance and reactance), yet guarantees voltage convergence to the predefined safe limit within a fixed time-window. We embrace results from Fixed-time stability (FxTs) and Control Lyapunov function (CLF) to analyze the stability and robustness of the underlying algorithm and then synthesize it leveraging the Quadratic Programming (QP) approach. We first analytically provide sufficient conditions on the control gains and the design parameters, that can ensure voltage regulation in fixed-time. Thereafter we transform the existing voltage regulation problem into an equivalent QP-based optimization framework and translate the aforesaid conditions to find feasible solutions for voltage stability. We empirically verify the efficacy of our proposed algorithm on the IEEE-33 bus distribution network and compare its performance against other existing robust control methods.
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Systems and Control · Cross-listed from cs.MA

LLM-Driven Multi-Agent Control for Skill-Based Smart Manufacturing

Factories are shifting toward smaller lot sizes with high product customization, requiring frequent re-programming of flexible and reconfigurable automation systems. LLM-based agents can be deployed in two complementary roles: Offline, they generate deterministic production sequences, reducing programming effort; online, they operate live machines and handle unforeseen runtime faults that static programs cannot anticipate. We propose a solution in which each factory module is paired with a dedicated LLM-based agent and an MCP tool server that exposes the module's skills via OPC UA method calls, with agents coordinating over MQTT and grounded by real-time updates of the factory state. We compare three agent architectures (orchestrator, peer-to-peer, and monolithic) across nine production challenges of increasing complexity in a simulation of a physical six-module hexagonal factory, including silent hardware fault detection. The monolithic and peer-to-peer architectures both achieve the highest mean solve rate (93%), while the orchestrator uniquely resolves a silent conveyor-belt fault in all ten runs by autonomously rerouting plates around the blocked segment. All architectures exhibit emergent fault-diagnosis behavior without any explicit failure-handling logic, establishing standardized MCP tooling, MQTT-based inter-agent communication, and real-time state injection as a viable and reproducible foundation for LLM-programmed smart manufacturing.
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All authors Kay Köhle, Darko Anicic, Thomas A. Runkler, René Graf

Systems and Control · Cross-listed from cs.LG

Port-Hamiltonian Neural Networks for Systems with Multiple Asymptotically Stable Equilibria

Stable port-Hamiltonian neural networks certify asymptotic stability by construction. Yet, their Hamiltonian is a global Lyapunov function with a single global minimum, so they can represent only dynamic systems with one attractor. We demonstrate that this excludes even simple systems with energy landscapes forming a double well, and we overcome the restriction by parametrising the Hamiltonian as a product of Bregman divergences generated by one input-convex network. We prove that the resulting model is locally Lyapunov stable, that the coexistence of stable equilibria forces additional non-asymptotically-stable equilibria to exist, that all equilibria lie in a bounded region, and under a hyperbolicity assumption that almost-everywhere stability holds. On three systems our approach is able to recover the energy surface characteristics and improve the convergence speed by 1.8$\times$-8.5$\times$.
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All authors Simon Heilig, Jens Püttschneider, Mohammad Itani, Asja Fischer, Timm Faulwasser

Systems and Control · Cross-listed from math.OC

Reachability-Informed Reinforcement Learning for Multi-Impulse Interplanetary Transfers

Reinforcement learning offers the prospect of a reusable sequential decision-making mechanism for spacecraft trajectory design, motivating policy interfaces that connect learned decisions to the underlying maneuver geometry. This paper develops Reachability Analysis-Informed Reinforcement Learning (RARL) for deterministic multi-impulse interplanetary transfers, placing intermediate waypoint selection at the center of the learned decision process. Local first-order reachability maps bounded velocity perturbations into an ellipsoidal set of next-node positions, within which the policy selects its waypoint. Lambert reconstruction then determines the corresponding maneuver to reach this selected waypoint along a dynamically consistent ballistic arc, coupling learned transfer-geometry selection with classical astrodynamics. A terminal two-impulse reconstruction completes the rendezvous, supported by a linear maneuver-demand assessment used for reward shaping. Numerical studies characterize this interface on a two-body Earth-Mars benchmark. Across three independent training runs, RARL achieves a mean maneuver cost of 10.23 km/s, 1.72% above a validated local sequential convex programming reference. Training over dispersed initial states extends policy reuse across a departure family with fixed target state and transfer duration. Each of the three independently trained multi-state policies completes all 10,000 held-out Monte Carlo departures without impulse-cap violations, compared with a mean feasibility rate of 6.49% for single-state policies. This broader sampled feasibility is accompanied by a 0.61% increase in mean nominal maneuver cost, without further training across departures. These results demonstrate that a reachability-informed decision interface supports benchmark-quality trajectory construction and policy reuse across dispersed departure conditions.
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Systems and Control · Cross-listed from math.OC

Control Allocation with Adaptive Augmentation for Aerodynamic Optimization of Trailing Edge Morphing Aircraft

This paper presents a control allocation framework with adaptive augmentation for a trailing edge morphing aircraft, providing stability guarantees under uncertainty while exploiting the available morphing degrees of freedom to optimize aerodynamic efficiency. A baseline controller is designed using the nominal aircraft model to establish the desired closed-loop reference dynamics. For the aerodynamics, the wing shape is optimized dependent on the flight state to achieve a target elliptical lift distribution corresponding to minimum induced drag. The adaptive augmentation is tailored to the control allocation problem to account for the uncertain system dynamics and stabilize the aircraft around the reference dynamics. The resulting stabilization condition is formulated as hard constraint in the allocation problem while minimizing deviations from the corresponding state-dependent aerodynamically optimal wing shape. Numerical results demonstrate that the adaptive augmentation compensates for matched uncertainties while the control allocation optimizes the wing shape with respect to the reference elliptical lift distribution.
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Systems and Control · Cross-listed from math.OC

Petrov-Galerkin operator inference with application to stability-encouraging identification

Data-driven model order reduction methods such as operator inference enable the efficient construction of reduced-order models directly from high-dimensional time-domain data. Standard operator inference typically seeks a Galerkin-type reduced model in a prescribed low-dimensional subspace by identifying its reduced operators from projected snapshot data. The resulting inference problem is formulated as a least-squares problem admitting an efficient closed-form solution. However, it is well known from intrusive model order reduction for linear time-invariant systems that Petrov-Galerkin projections can additionally preserve important system properties such as stability and passivity. To overcome the limitations of standard operator inference, we extend the framework for linear time-invariant systems to incorporate Petrov-Galerkin projections and provide explicit error expressions and bounds between the intrusive and nonintrusive reduced operators, thus generalizing results from the literature. We demonstrate the proposed approach in the context of dissipative and port-Hamiltonian systems. Furthermore, we introduce a novel convex optimization formulation that explicitly enforces the port-Hamiltonian structure on the inferred operators. The effectiveness of the proposed methods is demonstrated on several well-established benchmark problems, including the CD player, an atmospheric model, a mass-spring-damper system, and a poroelasticity system.
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All authors Johannes Rettberg, Jonas Nicodemus, Harsh Sharma, Boris Kramer, Jörg Fehr, Benjamin Unger

Systems and Control · Cross-listed from cs.CR

GNSS Spoofing in Mobile Devices: A Survey on Impact and Countermeasures

Smartphones rely on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-based positioning for many of the functions they execute everyday. The GNSS receivers embedded in smartphones are susceptible to anthropogenic radio frequency interference attacks in the forms of jamming and spoofing due to the low-power and open-architecture signals they receive from the satellite constellations. While jamming is a practice that denies a GNSS receiver the ability to form a position, velocity, and time (PVT) solution, spoofing represents a more insidious threat by using forged satellite signals that aim at causing the victim receiver to compute a false PVT solution. The ubiquity of smartphones and the sensitive geolocation data they hold make them a primary target for malicious spoofing. However, their hardware constraints and the lack of deep visibility into the GNSS receiver processing chain create significant hurdles for effective countermeasures. Existing surveys comprehensively explore general spoofing countermeasures but fail to address these mobile-specific limitations. This article fills that gap with a novel survey focused on techniques viable within the unique constraints of smartphone architectures. Specifically, we establish a taxonomy for defining GNSS spoofing attack effects and countermeasures, provide a historical review of smartphone vulnerability characterization, and provide an overview of techniques proposed to detect and counteract smartphone spoofing threats, offering a comparative framework to weigh their respective pros and cons on mobile platforms.
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All authors Robert Argo, Andrea Nardin, Alex Minetto, Pau Closas

Systems and Control · Cross-listed from cs.RO

PROMO: Preference-conditioned Multi-Objective Reinforcement Learning for Quadrupedal Robots

Quadrupedal locomotion requires balancing conflicting objectives such as command tracking, stability, and energy efficiency, yet conventional reinforcement learning (RL) hardcodes these priorities into a fixed scalar reward at training time. We present PROMO (Preference-Conditioned Multi-Objective Reinforcement Learning), a semantic multi-objective approach that makes this trade-off an explicit runtime input to a single locomotion policy. PROMO conditions the policy on deployment facing preferences while keeping embodiment-specific locomotion priors fixed, thereby separating operator intent from reward shaping terms required for viable gait generation. Compared with fixed-objective controllers, multi-objective baselines, and independently trained specialists, PROMO achieves objective specialization and robustness from a single deployable policy. Across 100 sampled preferences in simulation, 67 behaviors are non-dominated under exact Pareto dominance, with a mean preference-objective correlation of 0.843, demonstrating broad Pareto coverage and predictable preference response. The same policy transfers zero-shot to a Unitree Go2, where preference changes alone reduce specific energy by up to 30.4%, position error by 38.7%, and peak body-attitude deviation by 59.0% relative to the balanced preference. These results establish preference-conditioned multi-objective RL as a practical runtime interface for adaptive legged locomotion, extending its role beyond offline Pareto-set construction. Open-source code and videos are available at https://amrmousa.com/promo/.
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All authors Amr Mousa, Rifny Rachman, Neil Karavis, Michele Caprio, Richard Allmendinger

Systems and Control

Learning-Based Predictive Control Method for Vehicle Lateral Control with a Multi-Step Gaussian Process Regression Prediction

We introduce a novel approach to model predictive control that incorporates multi-step uncertainty prediction for safely controlling systems characterized by uncertainties dependent on both state and control variables. The discrepancy between real-world systems and their control-oriented representations arises from inherent uncertainties, which frequently correlate with state and control variables, a common occurrence in modeling errors. As these uncertainties accumulate and propagate over time, they can produce substantial deviations over extended horizons, potentially compromising the integrity of safety-critical applications. Although existing stochastic control frameworks can maintain system operation within safety boundaries at specified confidence levels, they necessitate accurate prediction of state distributions throughout the control horizon. This prediction represents a significant challenge for systems where uncertainties vary with state and control inputs. Our contribution addresses this challenge through a Model Predictive Controller leveraging multi-step Gaussian Process Regression to capture and anticipate uncertainties that are state- and control-dependent. We further propose an iterative solution to the optimization problem in our MPC framework and discuss the convergence of the algorithm. To demonstrate the method in a practical application, we conduct an in-depth analysis of vehicle lateral control, particularly during lane-changing maneuvers, examining how errors propagate through the system model. The effectiveness of our proposed methodology is validated through comprehensive simulations.
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