Adaptive Probabilistic Shielding by Learning MDPs for Safe Reinforcement Learning
arXiv:2608. 19836v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Probabilistic shielding is a technique for safe reinforcement learning (RL).
The paper presents a recovery‑based shielding framework that guarantees a provable safety lower bound for reinforcement learning in unknown, non‑linear continuous dynamical systems. It combines a backup policy (shield) with the RL agent and uses Gaussian process models to quantify uncertainty and predict safety violations, enabling dynamic recovery to safe trajectories only when needed. The shielded agent’s experience trains the GP models, and policy optimization is performed via internal model‑based sampling, allowing unrestricted exploration and sample‑efficient learning while maintaining strict safety compliance in continuous control tasks.
arXiv:2608. 19836v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Probabilistic shielding is a technique for safe reinforcement learning (RL).
arXiv:2606. 00270v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Shielding is an effective approach to formally guarantee the safety of reinforcement learning agents in Markov decision processes (MDPs).
Sampling-Based Safe Reinforcement Learning (SBSRL) is a model‑based RL algorithm that enforces safety by jointly constraining a finite set of dynamics samples, approximating a worst‑case optimization over uncertain dynamics. It introduces an exploration strategy that limits epistemic uncertainty, removing the need for explicit exploration bonuses. The authors provide high‑probability safety guarantees and a finite‑time sample complexity bound, and demonstrate safe, efficient exploration in both simulation and real robotic hardware, with extensions to deep‑ensemble implementations for high‑dimensional continuous control.
The paper introduces RecReg, a safe reinforcement learning framework that enforces non‑Markovian regular safety properties through recovery‑based shielding. It provides theoretical foundations and rigorous safety and convergence guarantees in the tabular setting, and demonstrates empirical effectiveness using the MASA‑Safe‑RL library. The authors also outline an extension of RecReg to deep RL with state‑of‑the‑art model‑based methods.
arXiv:2601. 19612v3 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Safe exploration is a key requirement for reinforcement learning (RL) agents to learn and adapt online, beyond controlled (e.
arXiv:2607. 07252v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Reinforcement learning (RL) enables the synthesis of control policies directly from data, making it highly appealing for complex cyber-physical systems (CPSs) and robotics.
Reinforcement learning (RL) enables the synthesis of control policies directly from data, making it highly appealing for complex cyber-physical systems (CPSs) and robotics. A persistent challenge, however, is ensuring strict, hard safety constraints during the active learning phase.
arXiv:2609.15915v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Meta-reinforcement learning (meta-RL) enables agents to adapt to unseen tasks with limited experience. Despite its promise, the application of meta-RL...
arXiv:2606. 01363v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Model-based reinforcement learning (MBRL) infers information about the environment from a learned dynamics model and bears the potential to address open problems such as data efficient and safe learning in robotics.
arXiv:2604. 26836v3 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Predictive safety filters (PSFs) leverage model predictive control to enforce constraint satisfaction during deep reinforcement learning (RL) exploration, yet their reliance on first-principles models or Gaussian processes limits scalability and broader applicability.
arXiv:2606. 10228v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Safe exploration is a prerequisite for deploying reinforcement learning (RL) agents in safety-critical domains.
arXiv:2606. 12896v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: While real-world applications of reinforcement learning (RL) are becoming increasingly popular, the security of RL systems deserve more attention and exploration.