Forward-Invariant Policy Classes for Safe Reinforcement Learning in Multicopter Control

Abstract

This paper proposes a reinforcement learning (RL) framework for safe gain scheduling based on forwardinvariance-induced action-space design. Under stated nominalmodel and inversion-domain assumptions, rather than enforcing safety through runtime shielding or penalty-based constraints, safety is embedded directly into the policy class. Specifically, we construct a finite library of feedback controllers sharing a common Lyapunov certificate that establishes forward invariance of a prescribed admissible set under arbitrary switching. Consequently, any policy whose actions are restricted to this library, including policies encountered during RL exploration, inherits the same certificate. Policy optimization can therefore focus on closed-loop performance without runtime safety filtering or action projection. The framework is instantiated for quadcopter hover regulation, where a DQN schedules among certified feedback controllers. Nonlinear MuJoCo simulations demonstrate state-dependent gain scheduling and empirically evaluate robustness to wind, model mismatch, sensor noise, and sensing delay. The results illustrate how safety certification can be separated from policy optimization by learning over a forward-invariant policy class.