Data-Based Control of Continuous-Time Linear Systems with Performance Specifications
Pith reviewed 2026-05-24 03:12 UTC · model grok-4.3
The pith
Direct data-based state feedback controllers can achieve trajectory tracking, LQR optimality, and robust pole placement for continuous-time linear systems without first identifying a model.
A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.
Core claim
The paper shows that for sufficiently rich data from a continuous-time linear system, state-feedback gains can be computed directly to solve the trajectory-reference control problem, the LQR problem, and a robust pole-placement problem, all without an intermediate identification of the system matrices.
What carries the argument
Direct computation of feedback gains from data matrices satisfying persistence of excitation conditions to enforce the performance criteria.
If this is right
- Trajectory-reference controllers can be synthesized to make the closed-loop system follow specified desired trajectories using only data.
- The continuous-time LQR problem can be solved data-based to obtain optimal state feedback without a model.
- Robust pole placement can be performed data-based by ensuring the closed-loop poles are in desired regions despite uncertainties.
- The methods apply to continuous-time systems and are validated through numerical simulations.
Where Pith is reading between the lines
- This could enable model-free control design in scenarios where obtaining an accurate model is difficult or costly.
- Extensions to discrete-time or nonlinear systems might follow similar data-driven principles if excitation conditions can be met.
- Online implementation could allow adaptive performance tuning based on streaming data.
Load-bearing premise
The input-state data collected must be rich enough, such as persistently exciting of sufficient order, to allow direct computation of the desired controllers.
What would settle it
Collect data from a known linear system, compute the data-based controller for one of the problems, apply it in closed loop, and check if the performance specification (e.g., LQR cost or pole locations) is met; failure for rich data would falsify the claim.
Figures
read the original abstract
The design of direct data-based controllers has become a fundamental part of control theory research in the last few years. In this paper, we consider three classes of data-based state feedback control problems for linear systems. These control problems are such that, besides stabilization, some additional performance requirements must be satisfied. First, we formulate and solve a trajectory-reference control problem, on which desired closed-loop trajectories are known and a controller that allows the system to closely follow those trajectories is computed. Then, the solution of the LQR problem for continuous-time systems is presented. Finally, we consider the case in which the precise position of the desired poles of the closed-loop system is known, and introduce a data-based variant of a robust pole-placement procedure. The applicability of the proposed methods is tested using numerical simulations.
Editorial analysis
A structured set of objections, weighed in public.
Referee Report
Summary. The paper formulates and solves three data-based state-feedback control problems for continuous-time linear systems that achieve stabilization plus performance specifications: (i) trajectory-reference tracking, (ii) the LQR problem, and (iii) robust pole placement. All three are solved directly from input-state data matrices under a persistent-excitation richness assumption that bypasses explicit system identification; the resulting controllers are obtained via semidefinite programs or linear equations and are illustrated on noise-free numerical examples.
Significance. If the central derivations hold, the work extends the data-driven control literature (Willems-type fundamental lemmas and direct controller synthesis) from discrete to continuous time while incorporating explicit performance criteria. This is potentially useful for applications where first-principles modeling is costly. The numerical examples demonstrate feasibility but do not yet constitute strong evidence of robustness or generality.
major comments (2)
- [Sections 3–5] The central claim rests on a continuous-time analogue of Willems' fundamental lemma that converts the performance-augmented design problems into data-matrix SDPs or linear equations. The precise rank/excitation condition required for this equivalence is never stated explicitly (e.g., in the problem formulations of Sections 3–5), making it impossible to verify whether the stated solutions are valid for any given data set.
- [Section 6] All three numerical examples are noise-free. Because the data-based formulations contain no explicit robustness margins beyond those constructed for the nominal case, the absence of noisy-data experiments leaves open whether the claimed performance guarantees survive realistic measurement or process noise.
minor comments (2)
- [Section 2] Notation for the data matrices (e.g., U, X, Ẋ) is introduced without a consolidated table; a single table listing all symbols and their dimensions would improve readability.
- [Abstract and Section 2] The abstract states that the problems are “formulated and solved,” yet the manuscript provides no derivation of the continuous-time fundamental lemma itself; a short appendix or reference to the exact lemma used would clarify the starting point.
Simulated Author's Rebuttal
We thank the referee for the constructive comments. We address each major comment below.
read point-by-point responses
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Referee: [Sections 3–5] The central claim rests on a continuous-time analogue of Willems' fundamental lemma that converts the performance-augmented design problems into data-matrix SDPs or linear equations. The precise rank/excitation condition required for this equivalence is never stated explicitly (e.g., in the problem formulations of Sections 3–5), making it impossible to verify whether the stated solutions are valid for any given data set.
Authors: We agree that restating the condition would improve readability. The continuous-time fundamental lemma and its rank condition on the data matrices (persistent excitation of order n+1) are derived in Section 2. We will revise the opening paragraphs of Sections 3, 4, and 5 to explicitly recall this condition before each problem statement, allowing immediate verification for any data set. revision: yes
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Referee: [Section 6] All three numerical examples are noise-free. Because the data-based formulations contain no explicit robustness margins beyond those constructed for the nominal case, the absence of noisy-data experiments leaves open whether the claimed performance guarantees survive realistic measurement or process noise.
Authors: The derivations and performance guarantees are obtained under the exact-data assumption standard to fundamental-lemma-based methods; no robustness to noise is claimed. The examples illustrate the nominal case. We will add a short paragraph in the conclusions acknowledging the noise-free setting and indicating that extensions to noisy data would require additional techniques such as regularization or set-membership approaches. revision: partial
Circularity Check
No significant circularity; derivations self-contained
full rationale
The paper derives data-based state-feedback controllers for trajectory tracking, LQR, and robust pole placement by constructing data matrices from persistently exciting trajectories and solving the resulting SDPs or linear equations directly. These steps rely on an external continuous-time analogue of Willems' fundamental lemma (cited as independent prior work) and explicit richness assumptions on the data; no equation reduces a claimed performance guarantee to a fitted parameter by construction, no load-bearing uniqueness theorem is imported from the authors' own prior work, and no ansatz is smuggled via self-citation. The central claims therefore retain independent mathematical content outside the input data.
Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger
Forward citations
Cited by 2 Pith papers
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Data-driven Linear Quadratic Integral Control: A Convex Formulation and Policy Gradient Approach
A convex data-driven formulation yields the optimal LQI feedback gain for continuous-time systems directly from measured data without system matrices.
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Data-Driven Continuous-Time Linear Quadratic Regulator via Closed-Loop and Reinforcement Learning Parameterizations
The authors adapt closed-loop and IRL parameterizations to continuous time, deriving policy iteration schemes, a data-driven CARE, convex reformulations, and a policy gradient flow while unifying the two approaches.
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