1,307 research outputs found
Fast Non-Parametric Learning to Accelerate Mixed-Integer Programming for Online Hybrid Model Predictive Control
Today's fast linear algebra and numerical optimization tools have pushed the
frontier of model predictive control (MPC) forward, to the efficient control of
highly nonlinear and hybrid systems. The field of hybrid MPC has demonstrated
that exact optimal control law can be computed, e.g., by mixed-integer
programming (MIP) under piecewise-affine (PWA) system models. Despite the
elegant theory, online solving hybrid MPC is still out of reach for many
applications. We aim to speed up MIP by combining geometric insights from
hybrid MPC, a simple-yet-effective learning algorithm, and MIP warm start
techniques. Following a line of work in approximate explicit MPC, the proposed
learning-control algorithm, LNMS, gains computational advantage over MIP at
little cost and is straightforward for practitioners to implement
Understanding the Limitations of CNN-based Absolute Camera Pose Regression
Visual localization is the task of accurate camera pose estimation in a known
scene. It is a key problem in computer vision and robotics, with applications
including self-driving cars, Structure-from-Motion, SLAM, and Mixed Reality.
Traditionally, the localization problem has been tackled using 3D geometry.
Recently, end-to-end approaches based on convolutional neural networks have
become popular. These methods learn to directly regress the camera pose from an
input image. However, they do not achieve the same level of pose accuracy as 3D
structure-based methods. To understand this behavior, we develop a theoretical
model for camera pose regression. We use our model to predict failure cases for
pose regression techniques and verify our predictions through experiments. We
furthermore use our model to show that pose regression is more closely related
to pose approximation via image retrieval than to accurate pose estimation via
3D structure. A key result is that current approaches do not consistently
outperform a handcrafted image retrieval baseline. This clearly shows that
additional research is needed before pose regression algorithms are ready to
compete with structure-based methods.Comment: Initial version of a paper accepted to CVPR 201
Long-term experiments with an adaptive spherical view representation for navigation in changing environments
Real-world environments such as houses and offices change over time, meaning that a mobile robot’s map will become out of date. In this work, we introduce a method to update the reference views in a hybrid metric-topological map so that a mobile robot can continue to localize itself in a changing environment. The updating mechanism, based on the multi-store model of human memory, incorporates a spherical metric representation of the observed visual features for each node in the map, which enables the robot to estimate its heading and navigate using multi-view geometry, as well as representing the local 3D geometry of the environment. A series of experiments demonstrate the persistence performance of the proposed system in real changing environments, including analysis of the long-term stability
Geometry-aware Manipulability Learning, Tracking and Transfer
Body posture influences human and robots performance in manipulation tasks,
as appropriate poses facilitate motion or force exertion along different axes.
In robotics, manipulability ellipsoids arise as a powerful descriptor to
analyze, control and design the robot dexterity as a function of the
articulatory joint configuration. This descriptor can be designed according to
different task requirements, such as tracking a desired position or apply a
specific force. In this context, this paper presents a novel
\emph{manipulability transfer} framework, a method that allows robots to learn
and reproduce manipulability ellipsoids from expert demonstrations. The
proposed learning scheme is built on a tensor-based formulation of a Gaussian
mixture model that takes into account that manipulability ellipsoids lie on the
manifold of symmetric positive definite matrices. Learning is coupled with a
geometry-aware tracking controller allowing robots to follow a desired profile
of manipulability ellipsoids. Extensive evaluations in simulation with
redundant manipulators, a robotic hand and humanoids agents, as well as an
experiment with two real dual-arm systems validate the feasibility of the
approach.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Intl. Journal of Robotics Research
(IJRR). Website: https://sites.google.com/view/manipulability. Code:
https://github.com/NoemieJaquier/Manipulability. 24 pages, 20 figures, 3
tables, 4 appendice
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