Control

Output Feedback Control

Output feedback control is control that uses only measured outputs rather than the full internal state of the system, which is often not directly observable. Designs typically combine a state estimator, such as a Kalman filter or Luenberger observer, with state feedback, or synthesize controllers directly from outputs. It contrasts with full-state feedback, which assumes every state variable is measurable.

Why it matters for physical AI

Real robots never measure their full state; the observer-plus-controller pattern, and its learned analogs with latent state estimators, is how partial sensing becomes stable closed-loop behavior.