115 research outputs found
Imitating Driver Behavior with Generative Adversarial Networks
The ability to accurately predict and simulate human driving behavior is
critical for the development of intelligent transportation systems. Traditional
modeling methods have employed simple parametric models and behavioral cloning.
This paper adopts a method for overcoming the problem of cascading errors
inherent in prior approaches, resulting in realistic behavior that is robust to
trajectory perturbations. We extend Generative Adversarial Imitation Learning
to the training of recurrent policies, and we demonstrate that our model
outperforms rule-based controllers and maximum likelihood models in realistic
highway simulations. Our model both reproduces emergent behavior of human
drivers, such as lane change rate, while maintaining realistic control over
long time horizons.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
Linking Rates of Diffusion and Consumption in Relationto Resources
The functional response is a fundamental model of the relationship between consumer intake rate and resource abundance. The random walk is a fundamental model of animal movement and is well approximated by simple diffusion. Both models are central to our understanding of numerous ecological processes but are rarely linked in ecological theory. To derive a synthetic model, we draw on the common logical premise underlying these models and show how the diffusion and consumption rates of consumers depend on elementary attributes of naturally occurring consumer-resource interactions: the abundance, spatial aggregation, and traveling speed of resources as well as consumer handling time and directional persistence. We show that resource aggregation may lead to increased consumer diffusion and, in the case of mobile resources, reduced consumption rate. Resource-dependent movement patterns have traditionally been attributed to area-restricted search, reflecting adaptive decision making by the consumer. Our synthesis provides a simple alternative hypothesis that such patterns could also arise as a by-product of statistical movement mechanics
Modeling Human Driving Behavior through Generative Adversarial Imitation Learning
Imitation learning is an approach for generating intelligent behavior when
the cost function is unknown or difficult to specify. Building upon work in
inverse reinforcement learning (IRL), Generative Adversarial Imitation Learning
(GAIL) aims to provide effective imitation even for problems with large or
continuous state and action spaces. Driver modeling is one example of a problem
where the state and action spaces are continuous. Human driving behavior is
characterized by non-linearity and stochasticity, and the underlying cost
function is unknown. As a result, learning from human driving demonstrations is
a promising approach for generating human-like driving behavior. This article
describes the use of GAIL for learning-based driver modeling. Because driver
modeling is inherently a multi-agent problem, where the interaction between
agents needs to be modeled, this paper describes a parameter-sharing extension
of GAIL called PS-GAIL to tackle multi-agent driver modeling. In addition, GAIL
is domain agnostic, making it difficult to encode specific knowledge relevant
to driving in the learning process. This paper describes Reward Augmented
Imitation Learning (RAIL), which modifies the reward signal to provide
domain-specific knowledge to the agent. Finally, human demonstrations are
dependent upon latent factors that may not be captured by GAIL. This paper
describes Burn-InfoGAIL, which allows for disentanglement of latent variability
in demonstrations. Imitation learning experiments are performed using NGSIM, a
real-world highway driving dataset. Experiments show that these modifications
to GAIL can successfully model highway driving behavior, accurately replicating
human demonstrations and generating realistic, emergent behavior in the traffic
flow arising from the interaction between driving agents.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with
arXiv:1803.0104
Seroprevalence of human T-Lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) in Costa Rica
artÃculo -- Universidad de Costa Rica. Instituto de Investigaciones en Salud,1990Infection within the human T linphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I), a virus associated with two diseases, adult T-cell leukemia lyriphornal and tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV-I associated myelopathy,2 is prevalent in Panama' and Colombia. To determine if HTLV-I is present in neighboring Costa Rica, we tested 436 sera from women who participated, between 1984 and 198.5, in a case-control study of cervical cancer in Costa Rica. These sera were all that were still available to us from the 765 collected from control participants in the study. Study participants had all been interviewed and tested for several serologic markers of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).Universidad de Costa Rica. Instituto de Investigaciones en SaludUCR::VicerrectorÃa de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias de la Salud::Instituto de Investigaciones en Salud (INISA
How complex do models need to be to predict dispersal of threatened species through matrix habitats?
Persistence of species in fragmented landscapes depends on dispersal among suitable breeding sites, and dispersal is often influenced by the "matrix" habitats that lie between breeding sites. However, measuring effects of different matrix habitats on movement and incorporating those differences into spatially explicit models to predict dispersal is costly in terms of time and financial resources. Hence a key question for conservation managers is: Do more costly, complex movement models yield more accurate dispersal predictions? We compared the abilities of a range of movement models, from simple to complex, to predict the dispersal of an endangered butterfly, the Saint Francis' satyr (Neonympha mitchellii francisci). The value of more complex models differed depending on how value was assessed. Although the most complex model, based on detailed movement behaviors, best predicted observed dispersal rates, it was only slightly better than the simplest model, which was based solely on distance between sites. Consequently, a parsimony approach using information criteria favors the simplest model we examined. However, when we applied the models to a larger landscape that included proposed habitat restoration sites, in which the composition of the matrix was different than the matrix surrounding extant breeding sites, the simplest model failed to identify a potentially important dispersal barrier, open habitat that butterflies rarely enter, which may completely isolate some of the proposed restoration sites from other breeding sites. Finally, we found that, although the gain in predicting dispersal with increasing model complexity was small, so was the increase in financial cost. Furthermore, a greater fit continued to accrue with greater financial cost, and more complex models made substantially different predictions than simple models when applied to a novel landscape in which butterflies are to be reintroduced to bolster their populations. This suggests that more complex models might be justifiable on financial grounds. Our results caution against a pure parsimony approach to deciding how complex movement models need to be to accurately predict dispersal through the matrix, especially if the models are to be applied to novel or modified landscapes
Breaking Functional Connectivity into Components: A Novel Approach Using an Individual-Based Model, and First Outcomes
Landscape connectivity is a key factor determining the viability of populations in fragmented landscapes. Predicting ‘functional connectivity’, namely whether a patch or a landscape functions as connected from the perspective of a focal species, poses various challenges. First, empirical data on the movement behaviour of species is often scarce. Second, animal-landscape interactions are bound to yield complex patterns. Lastly, functional connectivity involves various components that are rarely assessed separately. We introduce the spatially explicit, individual-based model FunCon as means to distinguish between components of functional connectivity and to assess how each of them affects the sensitivity of species and communities to landscape structures. We then present the results of exploratory simulations over six landscapes of different fragmentation levels and across a range of hypothetical bird species that differ in their response to habitat edges. i) Our results demonstrate that estimations of functional connectivity depend not only on the response of species to edges (avoidance versus penetration into the matrix), the movement mode investigated (home range movements versus dispersal), and the way in which the matrix is being crossed (random walk versus gap crossing), but also on the choice of connectivity measure (in this case, the model output examined). ii) We further show a strong effect of the mortality scenario applied, indicating that movement decisions that do not fully match the mortality risks are likely to reduce connectivity and enhance sensitivity to fragmentation. iii) Despite these complexities, some consistent patterns emerged. For instance, the ranking order of landscapes in terms of functional connectivity was mostly consistent across the entire range of hypothetical species, indicating that simple landscape indices can potentially serve as valuable surrogates for functional connectivity. Yet such simplifications must be carefully evaluated in terms of the components of functional connectivity they actually predict
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