ICML · 2026

World Models in Pieces: Structural Certification for General Agents

Yikai Lu, Yifei Wu, Xinyu Lu, Tongxin Li

Proceedings of the International Conference on Machine Learning

Which parts of an agent's world model can support reliable planning?

Structural certification links performance on compositional goals to local guarantees on world model transitions. The results identify reliable pieces of a model without requiring universal competence, and establish limits on the precision of such guarantees.

Research themes

Connections

From language context to constrained actions

INSTRUCT MPC translates human instructions into disturbance predictions. World model certification and VigilMPC study complementary ways of deciding which learned models can support reliable planning and safe updates.

Open questions

Certified contextual control

Can contextual and world model updates be certified before they affect a physical system?

Explore open directions

Cite this paper

Yikai Lu, Yifei Wu, Xinyu Lu, Tongxin Li. World Models in Pieces: Structural Certification for General Agents. Proceedings of the International Conference on Machine Learning, 2026. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.24842

BibTeX
@inproceedings{tongxin-world-models,
  title = {{World Models in Pieces: Structural Certification for General Agents}},
  author = {Yikai Lu and Yifei Wu and Xinyu Lu and Tongxin Li},
  year = {2026},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on Machine Learning},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.24842}
}
2026IEEE Control Systems Letters

VigilMPC: Certified Online Tube Model Predictive Control for Safe Real-Time Neuromodulation

Yu Mao, Zhichao Liang, Junxiang Zhang, Quanying Liu, Tongxin Li

VigilMPC accepts a predictor update only when a backup plan remains feasible under tightened constraints. Recursive feasibility and constraint satisfaction follow under the tube MPC assumptions. Evaluation uses simulated neural dynamics and a switching benchmark, rather than clinical deployment.

Can a predictive controller safely update its learned dynamics online? model predictive control MPC stability recursive feasibility distributed control system level synthesis learning augmented algorithms algorithms with predictions competitive analysis robustness consistency online optimization
2025CDC

INSTRUCT MPC: A Human-LLM-in-the-Loop Framework for Context-Aware Control

Ruixiang Wu, Jiahao Ai, Tongxin Li

A language to distribution module converts contextual instructions into disturbance predictions for MPC. The framework closes the loop between instructions, predictions, and control, with a regret analysis for linear dynamics under the stated training assumptions.

How can human instructions improve predictive control? large language models LLM agents contextual control world models reinforcement learning dueling bandits model predictive control MPC stability recursive feasibility distributed control system level synthesis AI for energy electric vehicle charging demand response renewable energy load forecasting decarbonization