47,201 research outputs found
Leveraging Mediator Cost Models with Heterogeneous Data Sources
Projet RODINDistributed systems require declarative access to diverse data sources of information. One approach to solving this heterogeneous distributed database problem is based on mediator architectures. In these architectures, mediators accept queries from users, process them with respect to wrappers, and return answers. Wrapper provide access to underlying data sources. To efficiently process queries, the mediator must optimize the plan used for processing the query. In classical databases, cost-estimate based query optimization is an effective method for optimization. In a heterogeneous distributed databases, cost-estimate based query optimization is difficult to achieve because the underlying data sources do not export cost information. This paper describes a new method that permits the wrapper programmer to export cost estimates (cost estimate formulas and statistics). For the wrapper programmer to describe all cost estimates may be impossible due to lack of information or burdensome due to the amount of information. We ease this responsibility of the wrapper programmer by leveraging the generic cost model of the mediator with specific cost estimates from the wrappers. This paper describes the mediator architecture, the language for specifying cost estimates, the algorithm for the blending of cost estimates during query optimization, and experimental results based on a combination of analytical formulas and real measurements of an object database system
Neural Grasp Distance Fields for Robot Manipulation
We formulate grasp learning as a neural field and present Neural Grasp
Distance Fields (NGDF). Here, the input is a 6D pose of a robot end effector
and output is a distance to a continuous manifold of valid grasps for an
object. In contrast to current approaches that predict a set of discrete
candidate grasps, the distance-based NGDF representation is easily interpreted
as a cost, and minimizing this cost produces a successful grasp pose. This
grasp distance cost can be incorporated directly into a trajectory optimizer
for joint optimization with other costs such as trajectory smoothness and
collision avoidance. During optimization, as the various costs are balanced and
minimized, the grasp target is allowed to smoothly vary, as the learned grasp
field is continuous. In simulation benchmarks with a Franka arm, we find that
joint grasping and planning with NGDF outperforms baselines by 63% execution
success while generalizing to unseen query poses and unseen object shapes.
Project page: https://sites.google.com/view/neural-grasp-distance-fields
An Algebraic Approach to XQuery Optimization
As more data is stored in XML and more applications need to process this data, XML query optimization becomes performance critical. While optimization techniques for relational databases have been developed over the last thirty years, the optimization of XML queries poses new challenges. Query optimizers for XQuery, the standard query language for XML data, need to consider both document order and sequence order. Nevertheless, algebraic optimization proved powerful in query optimizers in relational and object oriented databases. Thus, this dissertation presents an algebraic approach to XQuery optimization. In this thesis, an algebra over sequences is presented that allows for a simple translation of XQuery into this algebra. The formal definitions of the operators in this algebra allow us to reason formally about algebraic optimizations. This thesis leverages the power of this formalism when unnesting nested XQuery expressions. In almost all cases unnesting nested queries in XQuery reduces query execution times from hours to seconds or milliseconds. Moreover, this dissertation presents three basic algebraic patterns of nested queries. For every basic pattern a decision tree is developed to select the most effective unnesting equivalence for a given query. Query unnesting extends the search space that can be considered during cost-based optimization of XQuery. As a result, substantially more efficient query execution plans may be detected. This thesis presents two more important cases where the number of plan alternatives leads to substantially shorter query execution times: join ordering and reordering location steps in path expressions. Our algebraic framework detects cases where document order or sequence order is destroyed. However, state-of-the-art techniques for order optimization in cost-based query optimizers have efficient mechanisms to repair order in these cases. The results obtained for query unnesting and cost-based optimization of XQuery underline the need for an algebraic approach to XQuery optimization for efficient XML query processing. Moreover, they are applicable to optimization in relational databases where order semantics are considered
Query Learning with Exponential Query Costs
In query learning, the goal is to identify an unknown object while minimizing
the number of "yes" or "no" questions (queries) posed about that object. A
well-studied algorithm for query learning is known as generalized binary search
(GBS). We show that GBS is a greedy algorithm to optimize the expected number
of queries needed to identify the unknown object. We also generalize GBS in two
ways. First, we consider the case where the cost of querying grows
exponentially in the number of queries and the goal is to minimize the expected
exponential cost. Then, we consider the case where the objects are partitioned
into groups, and the objective is to identify only the group to which the
object belongs. We derive algorithms to address these issues in a common,
information-theoretic framework. In particular, we present an exact formula for
the objective function in each case involving Shannon or Renyi entropy, and
develop a greedy algorithm for minimizing it. Our algorithms are demonstrated
on two applications of query learning, active learning and emergency response.Comment: 15 page
Unscented Bayesian Optimization for Safe Robot Grasping
We address the robot grasp optimization problem of unknown objects
considering uncertainty in the input space. Grasping unknown objects can be
achieved by using a trial and error exploration strategy. Bayesian optimization
is a sample efficient optimization algorithm that is especially suitable for
this setups as it actively reduces the number of trials for learning about the
function to optimize. In fact, this active object exploration is the same
strategy that infants do to learn optimal grasps. One problem that arises while
learning grasping policies is that some configurations of grasp parameters may
be very sensitive to error in the relative pose between the object and robot
end-effector. We call these configurations unsafe because small errors during
grasp execution may turn good grasps into bad grasps. Therefore, to reduce the
risk of grasp failure, grasps should be planned in safe areas. We propose a new
algorithm, Unscented Bayesian optimization that is able to perform sample
efficient optimization while taking into consideration input noise to find safe
optima. The contribution of Unscented Bayesian optimization is twofold as if
provides a new decision process that drives exploration to safe regions and a
new selection procedure that chooses the optimal in terms of its safety without
extra analysis or computational cost. Both contributions are rooted on the
strong theory behind the unscented transformation, a popular nonlinear
approximation method. We show its advantages with respect to the classical
Bayesian optimization both in synthetic problems and in realistic robot grasp
simulations. The results highlights that our method achieves optimal and robust
grasping policies after few trials while the selected grasps remain in safe
regions.Comment: conference pape
Distributed Processing of Generalized Graph-Pattern Queries in SPARQL 1.1
We propose an efficient and scalable architecture for processing generalized
graph-pattern queries as they are specified by the current W3C recommendation
of the SPARQL 1.1 "Query Language" component. Specifically, the class of
queries we consider consists of sets of SPARQL triple patterns with labeled
property paths. From a relational perspective, this class resolves to
conjunctive queries of relational joins with additional graph-reachability
predicates. For the scalable, i.e., distributed, processing of this kind of
queries over very large RDF collections, we develop a suitable partitioning and
indexing scheme, which allows us to shard the RDF triples over an entire
cluster of compute nodes and to process an incoming SPARQL query over all of
the relevant graph partitions (and thus compute nodes) in parallel. Unlike most
prior works in this field, we specifically aim at the unified optimization and
distributed processing of queries consisting of both relational joins and
graph-reachability predicates. All communication among the compute nodes is
established via a proprietary, asynchronous communication protocol based on the
Message Passing Interface
- …