Research in constraint-based layout, visualization, CAD, and related topics : a bibliographical survey

The present work compiles numerous papers in the area of computer-aided design, graphics, layout configuration, and user interfaces in general. There is nearly no conference on graphics, multimedia, and user interfaces that does not include a section on constraint-based graphics; on the other hand most conferences on constraint processing favour applications in graphics. This work of bibliographical pointers may serve as a basis for a detailed and comprehensive survey of this important and challenging field in the intersection of constraint processing and graphics. In order to reach this ambitious aim, and also to keep this study up-to-date, the authors appreciate any comment and update information

Talking Nets: A Multi-Agent Connectionist Approach to Communication and Trust between Individuals

A multi-agent connectionist model is proposed that consists of a collection of individual recurrent networks that communicate with each other, and as such is a network of networks. The individual recurrent networks simulate the process of information uptake, integration and memorization within individual agents, while the communication of beliefs and opinions between agents is propagated along connections between the individual networks. A crucial aspect in belief updating based on information from other agents is the trust in the information provided. In the model, trust is determined by the consistency with the receiving agents’ existing beliefs, and results in changes of the connections between individual networks, called trust weights. Thus activation spreading and weight change between individual networks is analogous to standard connectionist processes, although trust weights take a specific function. Specifically, they lead to a selective propagation and thus filtering out of less reliable information, and they implement Grice’s (1975) maxims of quality and quantity in communication. The unique contribution of communicative mechanisms beyond intra-personal processing of individual networks was explored in simulations of key phenomena involving persuasive communication and polarization, lexical acquisition, spreading of stereotypes and rumors, and a lack of sharing unique information in group decisions

Multi-Arm Bin-Picking in Real-Time: A Combined Task and Motion Planning Approach

Automated bin-picking is a prerequisite for fully automated manufacturing and warehouses. To successfully pick an item from an unstructured bin the robot needs to first detect possible grasps for the objects, decide on the object to remove and consequently plan and execute a feasible trajectory to retrieve the chosen object. Over the last years significant progress has been made towards solving these problems. However, when multiple robot arms are cooperating the decision and planning problems become exponentially harder. We propose an integrated multi-arm bin-picking pipeline (IMAPIP), and demonstrate that it is able to reliably pick objects from a bin in real-time using multiple robot arms. IMAPIP solves the multi-arm bin-picking task first at high-level using a geometry-aware policy integrated in a combined task and motion planning framework. We then plan motions consistent with this policy using the BIT* algorithm on the motion planning level. We show that this integrated solution enables robot arm cooperation. In our experiments, we show the proposed geometry-aware policy outperforms a baseline by increasing bin-picking time by 28\% using two robot arms. The policy is robust to changes in the position of the bin and number of objects. We also show that IMAPIP to successfully scale up to four robot arms working in close proximity.Comment: 8 page

Las imágenes y la lógica del cono de luz: rastreando el giro postulacional de Robb en la física geométrica

Previous discussions of Robb’s work on space and time have offered a philosophical focus on causal interpretations of relativity theory or a historical focus on his use of non-Euclidean geometry, or else ignored altogether in discussions of relativity at Cambridge. In this paper I focus on how Robb’s work made contact with those same foundational developments in mathematics and with their applications. This contact with applications of new mathematical logic at Göttingen and Cambridge explains the transition from his electron research to his treatment of relativity in 1911 and finally to the axiomatic presentation in 1914 in terms of postulates. At the heart of Robb’s physical optics was the model of the light cone. The model underwent a transition from a working mechanical model in the Maxwellian Cambridge sense of a pedagogical and research tool to the semantic model, in the logical, model-theoretic sense. Robb tracked this transition from the 19th- to the 20th-century conception with the earliest use of the term ‘model’ in the new sense. I place his cone models in a genealogy of similar models and use their evolution to track how Robb’s physical researches were informed by his interest in geometry, logic and the foundations of mathematics. Las discusiones anteriores de la obra de Robb acerca del espacio y el tiempo han ofrecido un enfoque filosófico de las interpretaciones de la teoría de la relatividad o un enfoque histórico de su empleo de la geometría no-euclidiana, o han ignorado enteramente las discusiones de la relatividad en Cambridge. En este artículo centro mi atención en la forma cómo la obra de Robb tomó contacto con esos mismos desarrollos fundacionales en la matemática y con sus aplicaciones. El contacto con las aplicaciones de la nueva lógica matemática en Göttingen y en Cambridge explica la transición de las investigaciones de Robb sobre los electrones a su tratamiento de la relatividad en 1911 y finalmente a su presentación axiomática de 1914. En el corazón de la óptica física de Robb estaba el modelo del cono de luz. Este modelo pasó de ser un modelo mecánico operante en el sentido cantabrigense maxwelliano de herramienta didáctica y heurística a ser un modelo semántico en el sentido lógico de la teoría de modelos. Robb marcó esta transición de la concepción del siglo XIX a la del siglo XX con el uso más temprano del término “modelo” en el nuevo sentido. Sitúo sus modelos de conos en una genealogía de modelos similares y uso su evolución para seguir la pista de cómo las investigaciones físicas de Robb dependían de su interés en la geometría, la lógica y los fundamentos de las matemáticas.