Cognitive-Flexible Control via Latent Model Reorganization with Predictive Safety Guarantees

Abstract: Learning-enabled control systems must maintain safety when system dynamics and sensing conditions change abruptly. Although stochastic latent-state models enable uncertainty-aware control, most existing approaches rely on fixed internal representations and can degrade significantly under distributional shift. This letter proposes a \emph{cognitive-flexible control} framework in which latent belief representations adapt online, while the control law remains explicit and safety-certified. We introduce a Cognitive-Flexible Deep Stochastic State-Space Model (CF--DeepSSSM) that reorganizes latent representations subject to a bounded \emph{Cognitive Flexibility Index} (CFI), and embeds the adapted model within a Bayesian model predictive control (MPC) scheme. We establish guarantees on bounded posterior drift, recursive feasibility, and closed-loop stability. Simulation results under abrupt changes in system dynamics and observations demonstrate safe representation adaptation with rapid performance recovery, highlighting the benefits of learning-enabled, rather than learning-based, control for nonstationary cyber-physical systems.