A Monotonicity Framework for Stability Verification of Planar Path-Following Controllers

This letter provides a new tool for verifying behavior of path-following controllers. Use of this tool involves evaluating the monotonicity of the controller with respect to the state. The resulting verification process is simpler than Lyapunov-based methods. Moreover, the evaluation may be performed directly using observation data, without relying on a dynamics or sensor model to be learned. This verification is therefore practical in the context of data-driven control and feedback from information-rich sensors. Knowledge of dynamics or sensor models permits offline verification and design, as shown in several examples.