From Uncertainty Data to Robust Policies for Temporal Logic Planning

We consider the problem of synthesizing robust disturbance feedback policies for systems performing complex tasks. We formulate the tasks as linear temporal logic specifications and encode them into an optimization framework via mixed-integer constraints. Both the system dynamics and the specifications are known but affected by uncertainty. The distribution of the uncertainty is unknown, however realizations can be obtained. We introduce a data-driven approach where the constraints are fulfilled for a set of realizations and provide probabilistic generalization guarantees as a function of the number of considered realizations. We use separate chance constraints for the satisfaction of the specification and operational constraints. This allows us to quantify their violation probabilities independently. We compute disturbance feedback policies as solutions of mixed-integer linear or quadratic optimization problems. By using feedback we can exploit information of past realizations and provide feasibility for a wider range of situations compared to static input sequences. We demonstrate the proposed method on two robust motion-planning case studies for autonomous driving

Efficient Humanoid Contact Planning using Learned Centroidal Dynamics Prediction

Humanoid robots dynamically navigate an environment by interacting with it via contact wrenches exerted at intermittent contact poses. Therefore, it is important to consider dynamics when planning a contact sequence. Traditional contact planning approaches assume a quasi-static balance criterion to reduce the computational challenges of selecting a contact sequence over a rough terrain. This however limits the applicability of the approach when dynamic motions are required, such as when walking down a steep slope or crossing a wide gap. Recent methods overcome this limitation with the help of efficient mixed integer convex programming solvers capable of synthesizing dynamic contact sequences. Nevertheless, its exponential-time complexity limits its applicability to short time horizon contact sequences within small environments. In this paper, we go beyond current approaches by learning a prediction of the dynamic evolution of the robot centroidal momenta, which can then be used for quickly generating dynamically robust contact sequences for robots with arms and legs using a search-based contact planner. We demonstrate the efficiency and quality of the results of the proposed approach in a set of dynamically challenging scenarios

Heron triangles with two rational medians and Somos-5 sequences

Triangles with integer length sides and integer area are known as Heron triangles. Taking rescaling freedom into account, one can apply the same name when all sides and the area are rational numbers. A perfect triangle is a Heron triangle with all three medians being rational, and it is a longstanding conjecture that no such triangle exists. However, Buchholz and Rathbun showed that there are infinitely many Heron triangles with two rational medians, an infinite subset of which are associated with rational points on an elliptic curve $E(\mathbb{Q})$ with Mordell-Weil group $\mathbb{Z}\times \mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}$, and they observed a connection with a pair of Somos-5 sequences. Here we make the latter connection more precise by providing explicit formulae for the integer side lengths, the two rational medians, and the area in this infinite family of Heron triangles. The proof uses a combined approach to Somos-5 sequences and associated Quispel-Roberts-Thompson (QRT) maps in the plane, from several different viewpoints: complex analysis, real dynamics, and reduction modulo a prime.Comment: Minor typos and one entry in Table 9 correcte

Indices of fixed points not accumulated by periodic points

We prove that for every integer sequence $I$ satisfying Dold relations there exists a map $f : \mathbb{R}^d \to \mathbb{R}^d$, $d \ge 2$, such that $\mathrm{Per(f)} = \mathrm{Fix(f)} = \{o\}$, where $o$ denotes the origin, and $(i(f^n, o))_n = I$.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures. Final version to appear in Topol. Methods Nonlinear Ana

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

Szemeredi's theorem, frequent hypercyclicity and multiple recurrence

Let T be a bounded linear operator acting on a complex Banach space X and (\lambda_n) a sequence of complex numbers. Our main result is that if |\lambda_n|/|\lambda_{n+1}| \to 1 and the sequence (\lambda_n T^n) is frequently universal then T is topologically multiply recurrent. To achieve such a result one has to carefully apply Szemer\'edi's theorem in arithmetic progressions. We show that the previous assumption on the sequence (\lambda_n) is optimal among sequences such that |\lambda_n|/|\lambda_{n+1}| converges in [0,+\infty]. In the case of bilateral weighted shifts and adjoints of multiplication operators we provide characterizations of topological multiple recurrence in terms of the weight sequence and the symbol of the multiplication operator respectively.Comment: 18 pages; to appear in Math. Scand., this second version of the paper is significantly revised to deal with the more general case of a sequence of operators (\lambda_n T^n). The hypothesis of the theorem has been weakened. The numbering has changed, the main theorem now being Th. 3.8 (in place of Proposition 3.3). The changes incorporate the suggestions and corrections of the anonymous refere