Safety-Critical Control Systems [About this Issue]

This issue of IEEE Control Systems includes one feature and one lecture note. In the feature, “Runtime Assurance for Safety-Critical Systems: An Introduction to Safety Filtering Approaches for Complex Control Systems” [A1], authors Kerianne L. Hobbs, Mark L. Mote, Matthew C.L. Abate, Samuel D. Coogan, and Eric M. Feron provide an introductory tutorial of runtime assurance (RTA) concepts and their role in ensuring safety of complex control systems. Assuming an undergraduate-level understanding of control theory and state-space concepts, this article provides theory and examples for RTA architectures, four types of RTA approaches, and a number of systems engineering and practical considerations for employing RTA in safety-critical, cyberphysical systems. In the “Lecture Notes” column, “The Prandtl-Ishlinskii Hysteresis Model: Fundamentals of the Model and Its Inverse Compensator,” [A2] Mohammad Al Janaideh, Mohammad Al Saaideh, and Xiaobo Tan introduce the mathematical formulations of the Prandtl–Ishlinskii (PI) and Generalized PI (GPI) hysteresis models as well as their analytical inverses. These models can effectively characterize hysteresis nonlinearities in various systems, especially smart-material actuators, and their inverses can be used in feedforward compensation to mitigate the effect of hysteresis. Numerical examples of the PI and GPI models as well as their analytical inverses are also included in the article. The intended audience includes graduate students and researchers from academia and industry interested in hysteresis modeling and compensation.