Autonomous Motion
Note: This department has relocated.

23 results (View BibTeX file of all listed publications)

2020

Excursion Search for Constrained Bayesian Optimization under a Limited Budget of Failures
Excursion Search for Constrained Bayesian Optimization under a Limited Budget of Failures

Marco, A., Rohr, A. V., Baumann, D., Hernández-Lobato, J. M., Trimpe, S.

2020 (proceedings) In revision

Abstract
When learning to ride a bike, a child falls down a number of times before achieving the first success. As falling down usually has only mild consequences, it can be seen as a tolerable failure in exchange for a faster learning process, as it provides rich information about an undesired behavior. In the context of Bayesian optimization under unknown constraints (BOC), typical strategies for safe learning explore conservatively and avoid failures by all means. On the other side of the spectrum, non conservative BOC algorithms that allow failing may fail an unbounded number of times before reaching the optimum. In this work, we propose a novel decision maker grounded in control theory that controls the amount of risk we allow in the search as a function of a given budget of failures. Empirical validation shows that our algorithm uses the failures budget more efficiently in a variety of optimization experiments, and generally achieves lower regret, than state-of-the-art methods. In addition, we propose an original algorithm for unconstrained Bayesian optimization inspired by the notion of excursion sets in stochastic processes, upon which the failures-aware algorithm is built.

arXiv code (python) PDF [BibTex]

2016

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Supplemental material for ’Communication Rate Analysis for Event-based State Estimation’

Ebner, S., Trimpe, S.

Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, January 2016 (techreport)

PDF [BibTex]

2016

Ebner, S., Trimpe, S. Supplemental material for ’Communication Rate Analysis for Event-based State Estimation’ Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, January 2016 (techreport)

PDF [BibTex]

2015

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Distributed Event-based State Estimation

Trimpe, S.

Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, November 2015 (techreport)

Abstract
An event-based state estimation approach for reducing communication in a networked control system is proposed. Multiple distributed sensor-actuator-agents observe a dynamic process and sporadically exchange their measurements and inputs over a bus network. Based on these data, each agent estimates the full state of the dynamic system, which may exhibit arbitrary inter-agent couplings. Local event-based protocols ensure that data is transmitted only when necessary to meet a desired estimation accuracy. This event-based scheme is shown to mimic a centralized Luenberger observer design up to guaranteed bounds, and stability is proven in the sense of bounded estimation errors for bounded disturbances. The stability result extends to the distributed control system that results when the local state estimates are used for distributed feedback control. Simulation results highlight the benefit of the event-based approach over classical periodic ones in reducing communication requirements.

arXiv [BibTex]

2015

Trimpe, S. Distributed Event-based State Estimation Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, November 2015 (techreport)

arXiv [BibTex]

Gaussian Process Optimization for Self-Tuning Control
Gaussian Process Optimization for Self-Tuning Control

Marco, A.

Polytechnic University of Catalonia (BarcelonaTech), October 2015 (mastersthesis)

PDF Project Page Project Page [BibTex]

Marco, A. Gaussian Process Optimization for Self-Tuning Control Polytechnic University of Catalonia (BarcelonaTech), October 2015 (mastersthesis)

PDF Project Page Project Page [BibTex]

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Adaptive and Learning Concepts in Hydraulic Force Control

Doerr, A.

University of Stuttgart, September 2015 (mastersthesis)

[BibTex]

Doerr, A. Adaptive and Learning Concepts in Hydraulic Force Control University of Stuttgart, September 2015 (mastersthesis)

[BibTex]

Object Detection Using Deep Learning - Learning where to search using visual attention
Object Detection Using Deep Learning - Learning where to search using visual attention

Kloss, A.

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, May 2015 (mastersthesis)

Abstract
Detecting and identifying the different objects in an image fast and reliably is an important skill for interacting with one’s environment. The main problem is that in theory, all parts of an image have to be searched for objects on many different scales to make sure that no object instance is missed. It however takes considerable time and effort to actually classify the content of a given image region and both time and computational capacities that an agent can spend on classification are limited. Humans use a process called visual attention to quickly decide which locations of an image need to be processed in detail and which can be ignored. This allows us to deal with the huge amount of visual information and to employ the capacities of our visual system efficiently. For computer vision, researchers have to deal with exactly the same problems, so learning from the behaviour of humans provides a promising way to improve existing algorithms. In the presented master’s thesis, a model is trained with eye tracking data recorded from 15 participants that were asked to search images for objects from three different categories. It uses a deep convolutional neural network to extract features from the input image that are then combined to form a saliency map. This map provides information about which image regions are interesting when searching for the given target object and can thus be used to reduce the parts of the image that have to be processed in detail. The method is based on a recent publication of Kümmerer et al., but in contrast to the original method that computes general, task independent saliency, the presented model is supposed to respond differently when searching for different target categories.

PDF Project Page [BibTex]

Robot Arm Tracking with Random Decision Forests
Robot Arm Tracking with Random Decision Forests

Widmaier, F.

Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, May 2015 (mastersthesis)

Abstract
For grasping and manipulation with robot arms, knowing the current pose of the arm is crucial for successful controlling its motion. Often, pose estimations can be acquired from encoders inside the arm, but they can have significant inaccuracy which makes the use of additional techniques necessary. In this master thesis, a novel approach of robot arm pose estimation is presented, that works on single depth images without the need of prior foreground segmentation or other preprocessing steps. A random regression forest is used, which is trained only on synthetically generated data. The approach improves former work by Bohg et al. by considerably reducing the computational effort both at training and test time. The forest in the new method directly estimates the desired joint angles while in the former approach, the forest casts 3D position votes for the joints, which then have to be clustered and fed into an iterative inverse kinematic process to finally get the joint angles. To improve the estimation accuracy, the standard training objective of the forest training is replaced by a specialized function that makes use of a model-dependent distance metric, called DISP. Experimental results show that the specialized objective indeed improves pose estimation and it is shown that the method, despite of being trained on synthetic data only, is able to provide reasonable estimations for real data at test time.

PDF Project Page [BibTex]

Widmaier, F. Robot Arm Tracking with Random Decision Forests Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, May 2015 (mastersthesis)

PDF Project Page [BibTex]

2014

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Pole Balancing with Apollo

Holger Kaden

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, December 2014 (mastersthesis)

[BibTex]

2014

Holger Kaden Pole Balancing with Apollo Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, December 2014 (mastersthesis)

[BibTex]

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Learning Coupling Terms for Obstacle Avoidance

Rai, A.

École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, August 2014 (mastersthesis)

Project Page [BibTex]

Rai, A. Learning Coupling Terms for Obstacle Avoidance École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, August 2014 (mastersthesis)

Project Page [BibTex]

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Object Tracking in Depth Images Using Sigma Point Kalman Filters

Issac, J.

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, July 2014 (mastersthesis)

Project Page [BibTex]

Issac, J. Object Tracking in Depth Images Using Sigma Point Kalman Filters Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, July 2014 (mastersthesis)

Project Page [BibTex]

2013

Learning and Optimization with Submodular Functions
Learning and Optimization with Submodular Functions

Sankaran, B., Ghazvininejad, M., He, X., Kale, D., Cohen, L.

ArXiv, May 2013 (techreport)

Abstract
In many naturally occurring optimization problems one needs to ensure that the definition of the optimization problem lends itself to solutions that are tractable to compute. In cases where exact solutions cannot be computed tractably, it is beneficial to have strong guarantees on the tractable approximate solutions. In order operate under these criterion most optimization problems are cast under the umbrella of convexity or submodularity. In this report we will study design and optimization over a common class of functions called submodular functions. Set functions, and specifically submodular set functions, characterize a wide variety of naturally occurring optimization problems, and the property of submodularity of set functions has deep theoretical consequences with wide ranging applications. Informally, the property of submodularity of set functions concerns the intuitive principle of diminishing returns. This property states that adding an element to a smaller set has more value than adding it to a larger set. Common examples of submodular monotone functions are entropies, concave functions of cardinality, and matroid rank functions; non-monotone examples include graph cuts, network flows, and mutual information. In this paper we will review the formal definition of submodularity; the optimization of submodular functions, both maximization and minimization; and finally discuss some applications in relation to learning and reasoning using submodular functions.

arxiv link (url) [BibTex]

2013

Sankaran, B., Ghazvininejad, M., He, X., Kale, D., Cohen, L. Learning and Optimization with Submodular Functions ArXiv, May 2013 (techreport)

arxiv link (url) [BibTex]

2011

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Learning of grasp selection based on shape-templates

Herzog, A.

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 2011 (mastersthesis)

[BibTex]

2011

Herzog, A. Learning of grasp selection based on shape-templates Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 2011 (mastersthesis)

[BibTex]

2009

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The SL simulation and real-time control software package

Schaal, S.

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 2009, clmc (techreport)

Abstract
SL was originally developed as a Simulation Laboratory software package to allow creating complex rigid-body dynamics simulations with minimal development times. It was meant to complement a real-time robotics setup such that robot programs could first be debugged in simulation before trying them on the actual robot. For this purpose, the motor control setup of SL was copied from our experience with real-time robot setups with vxWorks (Windriver Systems, Inc.)Ñindeed, more than 90% of the code is identical to the actual robot software, as will be explained later in detail. As a result, SL is divided into three software components: 1) the generic code that is shared by the actual robot and the simulation, 2) the robot specific code, and 3) the simulation specific code. The robot specific code is tailored to the robotic environments that we have experienced over the years, in particular towards VME-based multi-processor real-time operating systems. The simulation specific code has all the components for OpenGL graphics simulations and mimics the robot multi-processor environment in simple C-code. Importantly, SL can be used stand-alone for creating graphics an-imationsÑthe heritage from real-time robotics does not restrict the complexity of possible simulations. This technical report describes SL in detail and can serve as a manual for new users of SL.

link (url) [BibTex]

2009

Schaal, S. The SL simulation and real-time control software package University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 2009, clmc (techreport)

link (url) [BibTex]

no image
The SL simulation and real-time control software package

Schaal, S.

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 2009, clmc (techreport)

Abstract
SL was originally developed as a Simulation Laboratory software package to allow creating complex rigid-body dynamics simulations with minimal development times. It was meant to complement a real-time robotics setup such that robot programs could first be debugged in simulation before trying them on the actual robot. For this purpose, the motor control setup of SL was copied from our experience with real-time robot setups with vxWorks (Windriver Systems, Inc.)â??indeed, more than 90% of the code is identical to the actual robot software, as will be explained later in detail. As a result, SL is divided into three software components: 1) the generic code that is shared by the actual robot and the simulation, 2) the robot specific code, and 3) the simulation specific code. The robot specific code is tailored to the robotic environments that we have experienced over the years, in particular towards VME-based multi-processor real-time operating systems. The simulation specific code has all the components for OpenGL graphics simulations and mimics the robot multi-processor environment in simple C-code. Importantly, SL can be used stand-alone for creating graphics an-imationsâ??the heritage from real-time robotics does not restrict the complexity of possible simulations. This technical report describes SL in detail and can serve as a manual for new users of SL.

link (url) [BibTex]

Schaal, S. The SL simulation and real-time control software package University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 2009, clmc (techreport)

link (url) [BibTex]

2008

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Efficient inverse kinematics algorithms for highdimensional movement systems

Tevatia, G., Schaal, S.

CLMC Technical Report: TR-CLMC-2008-1, 2008, clmc (techreport)

Abstract
Real-time control of the endeffector of a humanoid robot in external coordinates requires computationally efficient solutions of the inverse kinematics problem. In this context, this paper investigates methods of resolved motion rate control (RMRC) that employ optimization criteria to resolve kinematic redundancies. In particular we focus on two established techniques, the pseudo inverse with explicit optimization and the extended Jacobian method. We prove that the extended Jacobian method includes pseudo-inverse methods as a special solution. In terms of computational complexity, however, pseudo-inverse and extended Jacobian differ significantly in favor of pseudo-inverse methods. Employing numerical estimation techniques, we introduce a computationally efficient version of the extended Jacobian with performance comparable to the original version. Our results are illustrated in simulation studies with a multiple degree-offreedom robot, and were evaluated on an actual 30 degree-of-freedom full-body humanoid robot.

link (url) [BibTex]

2008

Tevatia, G., Schaal, S. Efficient inverse kinematics algorithms for highdimensional movement systems CLMC Technical Report: TR-CLMC-2008-1, 2008, clmc (techreport)

link (url) [BibTex]

2007

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Relative Entropy Policy Search

Peters, J.

CLMC Technical Report: TR-CLMC-2007-2, Computational Learning and Motor Control Lab, Los Angeles, CA, 2007, clmc (techreport)

Abstract
This technical report describes a cute idea of how to create new policy search approaches. It directly relates to the Natural Actor-Critic methods but allows the derivation of one shot solutions. Future work may include the application to interesting problems.

PDF link (url) [BibTex]

2007

Peters, J. Relative Entropy Policy Search CLMC Technical Report: TR-CLMC-2007-2, Computational Learning and Motor Control Lab, Los Angeles, CA, 2007, clmc (techreport)

PDF link (url) [BibTex]

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Learning an Outlier-Robust Kalman Filter

Ting, J., Theodorou, E., Schaal, S.

CLMC Technical Report: TR-CLMC-2007-1, Los Angeles, CA, 2007, clmc (techreport)

Abstract
We introduce a modified Kalman filter that performs robust, real-time outlier detection, without the need for manual parameter tuning by the user. Systems that rely on high quality sensory data (for instance, robotic systems) can be sensitive to data containing outliers. The standard Kalman filter is not robust to outliers, and other variations of the Kalman filter have been proposed to overcome this issue. However, these methods may require manual parameter tuning, use of heuristics or complicated parameter estimation procedures. Our Kalman filter uses a weighted least squares-like approach by introducing weights for each data sample. A data sample with a smaller weight has a weaker contribution when estimating the current time step?s state. Using an incremental variational Expectation-Maximization framework, we learn the weights and system dynamics. We evaluate our Kalman filter algorithm on data from a robotic dog.

PDF [BibTex]

Ting, J., Theodorou, E., Schaal, S. Learning an Outlier-Robust Kalman Filter CLMC Technical Report: TR-CLMC-2007-1, Los Angeles, CA, 2007, clmc (techreport)

PDF [BibTex]

2006

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Statistical Learning of LQG controllers

Theodorou, E.

Technical Report-2006-1, Computational Action and Vision Lab University of Minnesota, 2006, clmc (techreport)

PDF [BibTex]

2006

Theodorou, E. Statistical Learning of LQG controllers Technical Report-2006-1, Computational Action and Vision Lab University of Minnesota, 2006, clmc (techreport)

PDF [BibTex]

2005

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Linear and Nonlinear Estimation models applied to Hemodynamic Model

Theodorou, E.

Technical Report-2005-1, Computational Action and Vision Lab University of Minnesota, 2005, clmc (techreport)

Abstract
The relation between BOLD signal and neural activity is still poorly understood. The Gaussian Linear Model known as GLM is broadly used in many fMRI data analysis for recovering the underlying neural activity. Although GLM has been proved to be a really useful tool for analyzing fMRI data it can not be used for describing the complex biophysical process of neural metabolism. In this technical report we make use of a system of Stochastic Differential Equations that is based on Buxton model [1] for describing the underlying computational principles of hemodynamic process. Based on this SDE we built a Kalman Filter estimator so as to estimate the induced neural signal as well as the blood inflow under physiologic and sensor noise. The performance of Kalman Filter estimator is investigated under different physiologic noise characteristics and measurement frequencies.

PDF [BibTex]

2005

Theodorou, E. Linear and Nonlinear Estimation models applied to Hemodynamic Model Technical Report-2005-1, Computational Action and Vision Lab University of Minnesota, 2005, clmc (techreport)

PDF [BibTex]

1992

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Integrierte Wissensverarbeitung mit CAD am Beispiel der konstruktionsbegleitenden Kalkulation (Ways to smarter CAD Systems)

Schaal, S.

Hanser 1992. (Konstruktionstechnik München Band 8). Zugl. München: TU Diss., München, 1992, clmc (book)

[BibTex]

1992

Schaal, S. Integrierte Wissensverarbeitung mit CAD am Beispiel der konstruktionsbegleitenden Kalkulation (Ways to smarter CAD Systems) Hanser 1992. (Konstruktionstechnik München Band 8). Zugl. München: TU Diss., München, 1992, clmc (book)

[BibTex]