1 research outputs found
Approximate Topological Optimization using Multi-Mode Estimation for Robot Motion Planning
In this extended abstract, we report on ongoing work towards an approximate
multimodal optimization algorithm with asymptotic guarantees. Multimodal
optimization is the problem of finding all local optimal solutions (modes) to a
path optimization problem. This is important to compress path databases, as
contingencies for replanning and as source of symbolic representations.
Following ideas from Morse theory, we define modes as paths invariant under
optimization of a cost functional. We develop a multi-mode estimation algorithm
which approximately finds all modes of a given motion optimization problem and
asymptotically converges. This is made possible by integrating sparse roadmaps
with an existing single-mode optimization algorithm. Initial evaluation results
show the multi-mode estimation algorithm as a promising direction to study path
spaces from a topological point of view.Comment: 5 pages, Extended Abstract for RSS Workshop on Geometry and Topology
in Robotic