arXiv subjects

Rushikesh Kamalapurkar

Publications and source records attributed to Rushikesh Kamalapurkar.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Adaptive Control with Sparse Identification of Nonlinear Dynamics

This paper develops a sparsity-promoting integral concurrent learning (SP-ICL) adaptation law for a linearly parametrized uncertain nonlinear control-affine systems. The unknown parameters are learned using ICL with sparsity-promoting $\ell_1$ regularization. The use of $\ell_1$ regularization for sparsity promotion is common in system identification and machine learning; however, unlike existing approaches, this paper develops an online parameter update law that integrates the regularization penalty with ICL via sliding modes. We show via non-smooth Lyapunov analysis that the trajectories of the closed-loop system are ultimately bounded under the SP-ICL update law. Simulations verify the effectiveness of the sparsity penalty in the SP-ICL update law on recovering sparse dynamics during trajectory tracking.

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arXiv2026

On sparsity and directional forgetting in adaptive control

This paper develops a sparsity-promoting memory regressor extension (MRE) adaptation law with directional forgetting for nonlinear control-affine systems with linearly parameterized uncertainty. The objective is to use directional forgetting to selectively discount obsolete information and leverage $\ell_1$ regularization to promote sparsity of the parameter estimates. While $\ell_1$ regularization has been applied to the system identification problem in an offline setting, a contribution of this paper is to develop a recursive least squares update law to implement $\ell_1$ regularization in online adaptive control. In particular, we show that $\ell_1$-regularized recursive least squares is realized via a sliding mode update law. A nonsmooth Lyapunov-based stability analysis is then used to show that the tracking and parameter estimation errors are ultimately bounded under a subspace excitation condition. Simulation results on a Van der Pol oscillator demonstrate the ability of the developed sparsity-promoting MRE controller to recover sparse dynamics while maintaining stable tracking.

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arXiv2026

Switching Observers for Linear Systems: Beyond Individual Observability

This paper develops an LMI-based switching observer for linear time-invariant systems with two output channels, where only one output is available at any given time. We assume that the system is observable when both outputs are considered together, and that the time intervals between consecutive output switches are uniformly bounded. Under these assumptions, we design a set of channel-dependent Luenberger observer gains offline via linear matrix inequalities and show that the resulting switched observer drives the estimation error to zero. The main contribution is an offline gain design and convergence result for switched observers that does not require individual output channels to be detectable.

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arXiv2026

Safe Output-Feedback Adaptive Optimal Control of Input-Constrained Control-Affine Nonlinear Systems

In this paper, a novel online, safe output-feedback, critic-only, adaptive optimal control framework is developed for safety-critical control of partially observable systems. The developed framework ensures system stability and safety, regardless of the lack of full-state measurements, while learning and implementing a near-optimal controller. The approach leverages linear matrix inequality-based observer design methods to efficiently search for observer gains for effective state estimation. Then, approximate dynamic programming is used to develop an approximate controller that uses simulated experiences to guarantee the safety and stability of the closed-loop system. Safety is enforced by adding a recentered robust Lyapunov-like barrier function to the cost function that effectively enforces safety constraints, even in the presence of state estimation errors. Lyapunov-based stability analysis is used to guarantee uniform ultimate boundedness of the trajectories of the closed-loop system and ensure safety. Simulation studies are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed method through two real-world safety-critical scenarios, specifically one ensuring that the state trajectories of a given system remain within a given set, and the other ensuring that the system avoids an obstacle.

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arXiv2026

Integral Formulation of QENDy for Robust Nonlinear System Identification

This manuscript proposes an integral formulation of the newly defined quadratic embedding method for identifying nonlinear systems (QENDy). In the original algorithm, trajectory data points along with their time derivatives are used. Methods for calculating time derivatives make the algorithm sensitive to noise. Our integral formulation does not use the time derivatives. This results in a more robust method to learn the dynamics.

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arXiv2026

Parallel OctoMapping: A Scalable Framework for Enhanced Path Planning in Autonomous Navigation

Mapping is essential in robotics and autonomous systems because it provides the spatial foundation for path planning. Efficient mapping enables planning algorithms to generate reliable paths while ensuring safety and adapting in real time to complex environments. Fixed-resolution mapping methods often produce overly conservative obstacle representations that lead to suboptimal paths or planning failures in cluttered scenes. To address this issue, we introduce Parallel OctoMapping (POMP), an efficient OctoMap-based mapping technique that maximizes available free space and supports multi-threaded computation. To the best of our knowledge, POMP is the first method that, at a fixed occupancy-grid resolution, refines the representation of free space while preserving map fidelity and compatibility with existing search-based planners. It can therefore be integrated into existing planning pipelines, yielding higher pathfinding success rates and shorter path lengths, especially in cluttered environments, while substantially improving computational efficiency.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2026

A Dynamic Mode Decomposition Approach to Parameter Identification

This paper presents a data-driven algorithm for simultaneous system identification and parameter estimation in control-affine nonlinear systems. Parameter estimation is achieved by training a data-driven predictive model using state-action measurements and various known values at the parameters of interest. The predictive model is then used in conjunction with state-action data corresponding to unknown values of the parameters to estimate the said unknown value. Numerical experiments on the controlled Duffing oscillator with unknown damping, stiffness, and nonlinearity coefficients demonstrate accurate recovery of both the system trajectories and the unknown parameter values from data collected under open-loop excitation.

math.OC↗

arXiv2026

A Hough transform approach to safety-aware scalar field mapping using Gaussian Processes

This paper presents a framework for mapping unknown scalar fields using a sensor-equipped autonomous robot operating in unsafe environments. The unsafe regions are defined as regions of high-intensity, where the field value exceeds a predefined safety threshold. For safe and efficient mapping of the scalar field, the sensor-equipped robot must avoid high-intensity regions during the measurement process. In this paper, the scalar field is modeled as a sample from a Gaussian process (GP), which enables Bayesian inference and provides closed-form expressions for both the predictive mean and the uncertainty. Concurrently, the spatial structure of the high-intensity regions is estimated in real-time using the Hough transform (HT), leveraging the evolving GP posterior. A safe sampling strategy is then employed to guide the robot towards safe measurement locations, using probabilistic safety guarantees on the evolving GP posterior. The estimated high-intensity regions also facilitate the design of safe motion plans for the robot. The effectiveness of the approach is verified through two numerical simulation studies and an indoor experiment for mapping a light-intensity field using a wheeled mobile robot.

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arXiv2026

Decentralized Scalar Field Mapping using Gaussian Process

Decentralized Gaussian process (GP) methods offer a scalable framework for multi-agent scalar-field estimation by replacing a centralized global model with multiple local models maintained by individual agents. A team of agents operates through overlapping domains; neighboring agents generally produce inconsistent distributions over shared regions. This paper investigates whether these inter-agent posterior discrepancies can be systematically exploited to improve team-level predictive performance and answers this question positively through a novel decentralized intersection data-sharing and assimilation protocol. Specifically, each agent constructs neighbor-specific packets from its local GP together with the geometry of the overlap between subdomains and selectively assimilates information received from neighboring agents to improve consistency of its posterior over the shared regions. The proposed architecture preserves locality in both computation and communication, supports decentralized neighbor-to-neighbor data assimilation, and allows local GP models to evolve cooperatively across the network without requiring the exchange full packet exchange or centralized inference.

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arXiv2026

Stability and Sensitivity Analysis of Relative Temporal-Difference Learning: Extended Version

Relative temporal-difference (TD) learning was introduced to mitigate the slow convergence of TD methods when the discount factor approaches one by subtracting a baseline from the temporal-difference update. While this idea has been studied in the tabular setting, stability guarantees with function approximation remain poorly understood. This paper analyzes relative TD learning with linear function approximation. We establish stability conditions for the algorithm and show that the choice of baseline distribution plays a central role. In particular, when the baseline is chosen as the empirical distribution of the state-action process, the algorithm is stable for any non-negative baseline weight and any discount factor. We also provide a sensitivity analysis of the resulting parameter estimates, characterizing both asymptotic bias and covariance. The asymptotic covariance and asymptotic bias are shown to remain uniformly bounded as the discount factor approaches one.

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arXiv2026

A Taylor Series Approach to Correct Localization Errors in Robotic Field Mapping using Gaussian Processes

Gaussian Processes (GPs) are powerful non-parametric Bayesian models for regression of scalar fields, formulated under the assumption that measurement locations are perfectly known and the corresponding field measurements have Gaussian noise. However, many real-world scalar field mapping applications rely on sensor-equipped mobile robots to collect field measurements, where imperfect localization introduces state uncertainty. Such discrepancies between the estimated and true measurement locations degrade GP mean and covariance estimates. To address this challenge, we propose a method for updating the GP models when improved estimates become available. Leveraging the differentiability of the kernel function, a second-order correction algorithm is developed using the precomputed Jacobians and Hessians of the GP mean and covariance functions for real-time refinement based on measurement location discrepancy data. Simulation results demonstrate improved prediction accuracy and computational efficiency compared to full model retraining.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2026

Supporting Lemmas for RISE-based Control Methods

A class of continuous controllers termed Robust Integral of the Signum of the Error (RISE) have been published over the last decade as a means to yield asymptotic convergence of the tracking error for classes of nonlinear systems that are subject to exogenous disturbances and/or modeling uncertainties. The development of this class of controllers relies on a property related to the integral of the signum of an error signal. A proof for this property is not available in previous literature. The stability of some RISE controllers is analyzed using differential inclusions. Such results rely on the hypothesis that a set of points is Lebesgue negligible. This paper states and proves two lemmas related to the properties.

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arXiv2026

Control Occupation Kernel Regression for Nonlinear Control-Affine Systems

This manuscript presents an algorithm for obtaining an approximation of a nonlinear high order control affine dynamical system. Controlled trajectories of the system are leveraged as the central unit of information via embedding them in vector-valued reproducing kernel Hilbert space (vvRKHS). The trajectories are embedded as the so-called higher order control occupation kernels which represent an operator on the vvRKHS corresponding to iterated integration after multiplication by a given controller. The solution to the system identification problem is then the unique solution of an infinite dimensional regularized regression problem. The representer theorem is then used to express the solution as finite linear combination of these occupation kernels, which converts an infinite dimensional optimization problem to a finite dimensional optimization problem. The vector valued structure of the Hilbert space allows for simultaneous approximation of the drift and control effectiveness components of the control affine system. Several experiments are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed approach.

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arXiv2026

Safe Adaptive Feedback Control via Barrier States

This paper presents a safe feedback control framework for nonlinear control-affine systems with parametric uncertainty by leveraging adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) with barrier-state augmentation. The developed ADP-based controller enforces control invariance by optimizing a value function that explicitly penalizes the barrier state, thereby embedding safety directly into the Bellman structure. The near-optimal control policy computed using model-based reinforcement learning is combined with a concurrent learning estimator to identify the unknown parameters and guarantee uniform convergence without requiring persistency of excitation. Using a barrier-state Lyapunov function, we establish boundedness of the barrier dynamics and prove closed-loop stability and safety. Numerical simulations on an optimal obstacle-avoidance problem validate the effectiveness of the developed approach.

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arXiv2025

On the embedding transformation for optimal control of multi-mode switched systems

This paper develops an embedding-based approach to solve switched optimal control problems (SOCPs) with an arbitrary number of subsystems. Initially, the discrete switching signal is represented by a set of binary variables, encoding each mode in binary format. An embedded optimal control problem (EOCP) is then formulated by replacing these binary variables with continuous embedded variables that can take intermediate values between zero and one. Although embedding allows SOCPs to be addressed using conventional techniques, the optimal solutions of EOCPs often yield intermediate values for binary variables, which may not be feasible for the original SOCP. To address this challenge, a modified EOCP (MEOCP) is introduced by adding a concave auxiliary cost function of appropriate dimensionality to the main cost function. This addition ensures that the optimal solution of the EOCP is bang-bang, and as a result, feasible for the original SOCP.

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arXiv2025

A Switched Systems Approach to Image-Based Feature Tracking for Autonomous Satellite Inspection

This paper presents an information-based guidance and control architecture for an autonomous deputy spacecraft tasked with inspecting a chief satellite in orbit. The primary objective is for the deputy spacecraft to maximize information gain while tracking features on the chief satellite. The deputy spacecraft needs to respect various constraints such as illumination, field-of-view (FOV), fuel limitations, and avoidance regions. Additionally, the absence of GPS information poses a significant challenge for relative localization within the space environment. To learn the structure of the chief satellite while achieving relative self-localization and maximizing the information gain, this paper integrates a memory regression extension (MRE)-based distance observer with an information-maximizing adaptive controller. The distance observer utilizes feedback from a camera. A switched systems approach is used to determine the minimum dwell time required for a feature to remain within the FOV of the camera to ensure accurate estimation. A k-means clustering algorithm acts as a high-level planner to intermittently generate goal locations that guide the deputy spacecraft toward the nearest cluster of uninspected points on the chief satellite, subject to illumination and FOV constraints. A Lyapunov-based stability analysis is conducted to analyze the developed architecture, and simulation results validate the theoretical results of the paper.

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arXiv2025

Lyapunov-Based Physics-Informed Deep Neural Networks with Skew Symmetry Considerations

Deep neural networks (DNNs) are powerful black-box function approximators which have been shown to yield improved performance compared to traditional neural network (NN) architectures. However, black-box algorithms do not incorporate known physics of the system and can yield results which are physically implausible. Physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) have grown in popularity due to their ability to leverage known physical principles in the learning process which has been empirically shown to improve performance compared to traditional black-box methods. This paper introduces the first physics-informed DNN controller for an Euler-Lagrange dynamic system where the adaptation laws are designed using a Lyapunov-based stability analysis to account for the skew-symmetry property of the inertia matrix and centripetal-Coriolis matrix. A Lyapunov-based stability analysis is provided to guarantee asymptotic convergence of the tracking error and the skew-symmetric prediction error. Simulations indicate that the developed update law demonstrates improvement in individual and overall function approximation capabilities when compared to a physics-informed adaptation law which does not incorporate knowledge of system symmetries.

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arXiv2025

Safe Output-Feedback Adaptive Optimal Control of Affine Nonlinear Systems

In this paper, we develop a safe control synthesis method that integrates state estimation and parameter estimation within an adaptive optimal control (AOC) and control barrier function (CBF)-based control architecture. The developed approach decouples safety objectives from the learning objectives using a CBF-based guarding controller where the CBFs are robustified to account for the lack of full-state measurements. The coupling of this guarding controller with the AOC-based stabilizing control guarantees safety and regulation despite the lack of full state measurement. The paper leverages recent advancements in deep neural network-based adaptive observers to ensure safety in the presence of state estimation errors. Safety and convergence guarantees are provided using a Lyapunov-based analysis, and the effectiveness of the developed controller is demonstrated through simulation under mild excitation conditions.

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