71,222 research outputs found
Active Inference for Integrated State-Estimation, Control, and Learning
This work presents an approach for control, state-estimation and learning
model (hyper)parameters for robotic manipulators. It is based on the active
inference framework, prominent in computational neuroscience as a theory of the
brain, where behaviour arises from minimizing variational free-energy. The
robotic manipulator shows adaptive and robust behaviour compared to
state-of-the-art methods. Additionally, we show the exact relationship to
classic methods such as PID control. Finally, we show that by learning a
temporal parameter and model variances, our approach can deal with unmodelled
dynamics, damps oscillations, and is robust against disturbances and poor
initial parameters. The approach is validated on the `Franka Emika Panda' 7 DoF
manipulator.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, accepted for presentation at the International
Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 202
Experimental Bayesian Quantum Phase Estimation on a Silicon Photonic Chip
Quantum phase estimation is a fundamental subroutine in many quantum
algorithms, including Shor's factorization algorithm and quantum simulation.
However, so far results have cast doubt on its practicability for near-term,
non-fault tolerant, quantum devices. Here we report experimental results
demonstrating that this intuition need not be true. We implement a recently
proposed adaptive Bayesian approach to quantum phase estimation and use it to
simulate molecular energies on a Silicon quantum photonic device. The approach
is verified to be well suited for pre-threshold quantum processors by
investigating its superior robustness to noise and decoherence compared to the
iterative phase estimation algorithm. This shows a promising route to unlock
the power of quantum phase estimation much sooner than previously believed
Event-based Vision: A Survey
Event cameras are bio-inspired sensors that differ from conventional frame
cameras: Instead of capturing images at a fixed rate, they asynchronously
measure per-pixel brightness changes, and output a stream of events that encode
the time, location and sign of the brightness changes. Event cameras offer
attractive properties compared to traditional cameras: high temporal resolution
(in the order of microseconds), very high dynamic range (140 dB vs. 60 dB), low
power consumption, and high pixel bandwidth (on the order of kHz) resulting in
reduced motion blur. Hence, event cameras have a large potential for robotics
and computer vision in challenging scenarios for traditional cameras, such as
low-latency, high speed, and high dynamic range. However, novel methods are
required to process the unconventional output of these sensors in order to
unlock their potential. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the
emerging field of event-based vision, with a focus on the applications and the
algorithms developed to unlock the outstanding properties of event cameras. We
present event cameras from their working principle, the actual sensors that are
available and the tasks that they have been used for, from low-level vision
(feature detection and tracking, optic flow, etc.) to high-level vision
(reconstruction, segmentation, recognition). We also discuss the techniques
developed to process events, including learning-based techniques, as well as
specialized processors for these novel sensors, such as spiking neural
networks. Additionally, we highlight the challenges that remain to be tackled
and the opportunities that lie ahead in the search for a more efficient,
bio-inspired way for machines to perceive and interact with the world
Experimental Quantum Hamiltonian Learning
Efficiently characterising quantum systems, verifying operations of quantum
devices and validating underpinning physical models, are central challenges for
the development of quantum technologies and for our continued understanding of
foundational physics. Machine-learning enhanced by quantum simulators has been
proposed as a route to improve the computational cost of performing these
studies. Here we interface two different quantum systems through a classical
channel - a silicon-photonics quantum simulator and an electron spin in a
diamond nitrogen-vacancy centre - and use the former to learn the latter's
Hamiltonian via Bayesian inference. We learn the salient Hamiltonian parameter
with an uncertainty of approximately . Furthermore, an observed
saturation in the learning algorithm suggests deficiencies in the underlying
Hamiltonian model, which we exploit to further improve the model itself. We go
on to implement an interactive version of the protocol and experimentally show
its ability to characterise the operation of the quantum photonic device. This
work demonstrates powerful new quantum-enhanced techniques for investigating
foundational physical models and characterising quantum technologies
Efficient Neural Network Implementations on Parallel Embedded Platforms Applied to Real-Time Torque-Vectoring Optimization Using Predictions for Multi-Motor Electric Vehicles
The combination of machine learning and heterogeneous embedded platforms enables new potential for developing sophisticated control concepts which are applicable to the field of vehicle dynamics and ADAS. This interdisciplinary work provides enabler solutions -ultimately implementing fast predictions using neural networks (NNs) on field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and graphical processing units (GPUs)- while applying them to a challenging application: Torque Vectoring on a multi-electric-motor vehicle for enhanced vehicle dynamics. The foundation motivating this work is provided by discussing multiple domains of the technological context as well as the constraints related to the automotive field, which contrast with the attractiveness of exploiting the capabilities of new embedded platforms to apply advanced control algorithms for complex control problems. In this particular case we target enhanced vehicle dynamics on a multi-motor electric vehicle benefiting from the greater degrees of freedom and controllability offered by such powertrains. Considering the constraints of the application and the implications of the selected multivariable optimization challenge, we propose a NN to provide batch predictions for real-time optimization. This leads to the major contribution of this work: efficient NN implementations on two intrinsically parallel embedded platforms, a GPU and a FPGA, following an analysis of theoretical and practical implications of their different operating paradigms, in order to efficiently harness their computing potential while gaining insight into their peculiarities. The achieved results exceed the expectations and additionally provide a representative illustration of the strengths and weaknesses of each kind of platform. Consequently, having shown the applicability of the proposed solutions, this work contributes valuable enablers also for further developments following similar fundamental principles.Some of the results presented in this work are related to activities within the 3Ccar project, which has
received funding from ECSEL Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No. 662192. This Joint Undertaking
received support from the European Unionâs Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and Germany,
Austria, Czech Republic, Romania, Belgium, United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Latvia, Finland, Spain, Italy,
Lithuania. This work was also partly supported by the project ENABLES3, which received funding from ECSEL
Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No. 692455-2
Learning perception and planning with deep active inference
Active inference is a process theory of the brain that states that all living organisms infer actions in order to minimize their (expected) free energy. However, current experiments are limited to predefined, often discrete, state spaces. In this paper we use recent advances in deep learning to learn the state space and approximate the necessary probability distributions to engage in active inference
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