174,000 research outputs found
Frequency-Aware Model Predictive Control
Transferring solutions found by trajectory optimization to robotic hardware
remains a challenging task. When the optimization fully exploits the provided
model to perform dynamic tasks, the presence of unmodeled dynamics renders the
motion infeasible on the real system. Model errors can be a result of model
simplifications, but also naturally arise when deploying the robot in
unstructured and nondeterministic environments. Predominantly, compliant
contacts and actuator dynamics lead to bandwidth limitations. While classical
control methods provide tools to synthesize controllers that are robust to a
class of model errors, such a notion is missing in modern trajectory
optimization, which is solved in the time domain. We propose frequency-shaped
cost functions to achieve robust solutions in the context of optimal control
for legged robots. Through simulation and hardware experiments we show that
motion plans can be made compatible with bandwidth limits set by actuators and
contact dynamics. The smoothness of the model predictive solutions can be
continuously tuned without compromising the feasibility of the problem.
Experiments with the quadrupedal robot ANYmal, which is driven by
highly-compliant series elastic actuators, showed significantly improved
tracking performance of the planned motion, torque, and force trajectories and
enabled the machine to walk robustly on terrain with unmodeled compliance
Hierarchical and Frequency-Aware Model Predictive Control for Bare-Metal Cloud Applications
Bare-metal cloud provides a dedicated set of physical machines (PMs) and enables both PMs and virtual machines (VMs) on the PMs to be scaled in/out dynamically. However, to increase efficiency of the resources and reduce violations of service level agreements (SLAs), resources need to be scaled quickly to adapt to workload changes, which results in high reconfiguration overhead, especially for the PMs. This paper proposes a hierarchical and frequency-aware auto-scaling based on Model Predictive Control, which enable us to achieve an optimal balance between resource efficiency and overhead. Moreover, when performing high-frequency resource control, the proposed technique improves the timing of reconfigurations for the PMs without increasing the number of them, while it increases the reallocations for the VMs to adjust the redundant capacity among the applications; this process improves the resource efficiency. Through trace-based numerical simulations, we demonstrate that when the control frequency is increased to 16 times per hour, the VM insufficiency causing SLA violations is reduced to a minimum of 0.1% per application without increasing the VM pool capacity
Proactive elasticity and energy awareness in data stream processing
Data stream processing applications have a long running nature (24hr/7d) with workload conditions that may exhibit wide variations at run-time. Elasticity is the term coined to describe the capability of applications to change dynamically their resource usage in response to workload fluctuations. This paper focuses on strategies for elastic data stream processing targeting multicore systems. The key idea is to exploit Model Predictive Control, a control-theoretic method that takes into account the system behavior over a future time horizon in order to decide the best reconfiguration to execute. We design a set of energy-aware proactive strategies, optimized for throughput and latency QoS requirements, which regulate the number of used cores and the CPU frequency through the Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS) support offered by modern multicore CPUs. We evaluate our strategies in a high-frequency trading application fed by synthetic and real-world workload traces. We introduce specific properties to effectively compare different elastic approaches, and the results show that our strategies are able to achieve the best outcome
Memory-full context-aware predictive mobility management in dual connectivity 5G networks
Network densification with small cell deployment is being considered as one of the dominant themes in the fifth generation (5G) cellular system. Despite the capacity gains, such deployment scenarios raise several challenges from mobility management perspective. The small cell size, which implies a small cell residence time, will increase the handover (HO) rate dramatically. Consequently, the HO latency will become a critical consideration in the 5G era. The latter requires an intelligent, fast and light-weight HO procedure with minimal signalling overhead. In this direction, we propose a memory-full context-aware HO scheme with mobility prediction to achieve the aforementioned objectives. We consider a dual connectivity radio access network architecture with logical separation between control and data planes because it offers relaxed constraints in implementing the predictive approaches. The proposed scheme predicts future HO events along with the expected HO time by combining radio frequency performance to physical proximity along with the user context in terms of speed, direction and HO history. To minimise the processing and the storage requirements whilst improving the prediction performance, a user-specific prediction triggering threshold is proposed. The prediction outcome is utilised to perform advance HO signalling whilst suspending the periodic transmission of measurement reports. Analytical and simulation results show that the proposed scheme provides promising gains over the conventional approach
Feedback MPC for Torque-Controlled Legged Robots
The computational power of mobile robots is currently insufficient to achieve
torque level whole-body Model Predictive Control (MPC) at the update rates
required for complex dynamic systems such as legged robots. This problem is
commonly circumvented by using a fast tracking controller to compensate for
model errors between updates. In this work, we show that the feedback policy
from a Differential Dynamic Programming (DDP) based MPC algorithm is a viable
alternative to bridge the gap between the low MPC update rate and the actuation
command rate. We propose to augment the DDP approach with a relaxed barrier
function to address inequality constraints arising from the friction cone. A
frequency-dependent cost function is used to reduce the sensitivity to
high-frequency model errors and actuator bandwidth limits. We demonstrate that
our approach can find stable locomotion policies for the torque-controlled
quadruped, ANYmal, both in simulation and on hardware.Comment: Paper accepted to IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent
Robots and Systems (IROS 2019
A Survey of Prediction and Classification Techniques in Multicore Processor Systems
In multicore processor systems, being able to accurately predict the future provides new optimization opportunities, which otherwise could not be exploited. For example, an oracle able to predict a certain application\u27s behavior running on a smart phone could direct the power manager to switch to appropriate dynamic voltage and frequency scaling modes that would guarantee minimum levels of desired performance while saving energy consumption and thereby prolonging battery life. Using predictions enables systems to become proactive rather than continue to operate in a reactive manner. This prediction-based proactive approach has become increasingly popular in the design and optimization of integrated circuits and of multicore processor systems. Prediction transforms from simple forecasting to sophisticated machine learning based prediction and classification that learns from existing data, employs data mining, and predicts future behavior. This can be exploited by novel optimization techniques that can span across all layers of the computing stack. In this survey paper, we present a discussion of the most popular techniques on prediction and classification in the general context of computing systems with emphasis on multicore processors. The paper is far from comprehensive, but, it will help the reader interested in employing prediction in optimization of multicore processor systems
PAMPC: Perception-Aware Model Predictive Control for Quadrotors
We present the first perception-aware model predictive control framework for
quadrotors that unifies control and planning with respect to action and
perception objectives. Our framework leverages numerical optimization to
compute trajectories that satisfy the system dynamics and require control
inputs within the limits of the platform. Simultaneously, it optimizes
perception objectives for robust and reliable sens- ing by maximizing the
visibility of a point of interest and minimizing its velocity in the image
plane. Considering both perception and action objectives for motion planning
and control is challenging due to the possible conflicts arising from their
respective requirements. For example, for a quadrotor to track a reference
trajectory, it needs to rotate to align its thrust with the direction of the
desired acceleration. However, the perception objective might require to
minimize such rotation to maximize the visibility of a point of interest. A
model-based optimization framework, able to consider both perception and action
objectives and couple them through the system dynamics, is therefore necessary.
Our perception-aware model predictive control framework works in a
receding-horizon fashion by iteratively solving a non-linear optimization
problem. It is capable of running in real-time, fully onboard our lightweight,
small-scale quadrotor using a low-power ARM computer, to- gether with a
visual-inertial odometry pipeline. We validate our approach in experiments
demonstrating (I) the contradiction between perception and action objectives,
and (II) improved behavior in extremely challenging lighting conditions
6G White Paper on Machine Learning in Wireless Communication Networks
The focus of this white paper is on machine learning (ML) in wireless
communications. 6G wireless communication networks will be the backbone of the
digital transformation of societies by providing ubiquitous, reliable, and
near-instant wireless connectivity for humans and machines. Recent advances in
ML research has led enable a wide range of novel technologies such as
self-driving vehicles and voice assistants. Such innovation is possible as a
result of the availability of advanced ML models, large datasets, and high
computational power. On the other hand, the ever-increasing demand for
connectivity will require a lot of innovation in 6G wireless networks, and ML
tools will play a major role in solving problems in the wireless domain. In
this paper, we provide an overview of the vision of how ML will impact the
wireless communication systems. We first give an overview of the ML methods
that have the highest potential to be used in wireless networks. Then, we
discuss the problems that can be solved by using ML in various layers of the
network such as the physical layer, medium access layer, and application layer.
Zero-touch optimization of wireless networks using ML is another interesting
aspect that is discussed in this paper. Finally, at the end of each section,
important research questions that the section aims to answer are presented
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