Guardrails successfully implements and flight-tests Control Barrier Functions on an F-16 fighter jet to enforce safety limits in real-time.
March 31, 2026
Original Paper
Safety Guardrails in the Sky: Realizing Control Barrier Functions on the VISTA F-16 Jet
arXiv · 2603.27912
The Takeaway
This is a major real-world validation of runtime assurance theory. It proves that complex, high-performance autonomous systems can safely operate at the very edge of their flight envelopes by mathematically blending human/AI inputs with safety-critical constraints.
From the abstract
The advancement of autonomous systems -- from legged robots to self-driving vehicles and aircraft -- necessitates executing increasingly high-performance and dynamic motions without ever putting the system or its environment in harm's way. In this paper, we introduce Guardrails -- a novel runtime assurance mechanism that guarantees dynamic safety for autonomous systems, allowing them to safely evolve on the edge of their operational domains. Rooted in the theory of control barrier functions, Gua