A Review of Safe Online Learning for Nonlinear Control Systems

Learning for autonomous dynamic control systems that can adapt to unforeseen environmental changes are of great interest but the realisation of a practical and safe online learning algorithm is incredibly challenging. This paper highlights some of the main approaches for safe online learning of stabilisable nonlinear control systems with a focus on safety certification for stability. We categorise a non-exhaustive list of salient techniques, with a focus on traditional control theory as opposed to reinforcement learning and approximate dynamic programming. This paper also aims to provide a simplified overview of techniques as an introduction to the field. It is the first paper to our knowledge that compares key attributes and advantages of each technique in one paper.