Autonomous Motion
Note: This department has relocated.

364 results (View BibTeX file of all listed publications)

2023

Visual-Inertial and Leg Odometry Fusion for Dynamic Locomotion
Visual-Inertial and Leg Odometry Fusion for Dynamic Locomotion

Dhédin, V., Li, H., Khorshidi, S., Mack, L., Ravi, A. K. C., Meduri, A., Shah, P., Grimminger, F., Righetti, L., Khadiv, M., Stueckler, J.

In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2023 (inproceedings)

Abstract
Implementing dynamic locomotion behaviors on legged robots requires a high-quality state estimation module. Especially when the motion includes flight phases, state-of-the-art approaches fail to produce reliable estimation of the robot posture, in particular base height. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for combining visual-inertial odometry (VIO) with leg odometry in an extended Kalman filter (EKF) based state estimator. The VIO module uses a stereo camera and IMU to yield low-drift 3D position and yaw orientation and drift-free pitch and roll orientation of the robot base link in the inertial frame. However, these values have a considerable amount of latency due to image processing and optimization, while the rate of update is quite low which is not suitable for low-level control. To reduce the latency, we predict the VIO state estimate at the rate of the IMU measurements of the VIO sensor. The EKF module uses the base pose and linear velocity predicted by VIO, fuses them further with a second high-rate IMU and leg odometry measurements, and produces robot state estimates with a high frequency and small latency suitable for control. We integrate this lightweight estimation framework with a nonlinear model predictive controller and show successful implementation of a set of agile locomotion behaviors, including trotting and jumping at varying horizontal speeds, on a torque-controlled quadruped robot.

preprint video link (url) DOI [BibTex]

2023

Dhédin, V., Li, H., Khorshidi, S., Mack, L., Ravi, A. K. C., Meduri, A., Shah, P., Grimminger, F., Righetti, L., Khadiv, M., Stueckler, J. Visual-Inertial and Leg Odometry Fusion for Dynamic Locomotion In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2023 (inproceedings)

preprint video link (url) DOI [BibTex]

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BiConMP: A Nonlinear Model Predictive Control Framework for Whole Body Motion Planning

Meduri, A., Shah, P., Viereck, J., Khadiv, M., Havoutis, I., Righetti, L.

IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 39(2):905-922, IEEE, 2023 (article)

link (url) DOI [BibTex]

Meduri, A., Shah, P., Viereck, J., Khadiv, M., Havoutis, I., Righetti, L. BiConMP: A Nonlinear Model Predictive Control Framework for Whole Body Motion Planning IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 39(2):905-922, IEEE, 2023 (article)

link (url) DOI [BibTex]

2022

Combining learned and analytical models for predicting action effects from sensory data
Combining learned and analytical models for predicting action effects from sensory data

Kloss, A., Schaal, S., Bohg, J.

International Journal of Robotics Research, 41(8):741-847, July 2022 (article)

Abstract
One of the most basic skills a robot should possess is predicting the effect of physical interactions with objects in the environment. This enables optimal action selection to reach a certain goal state. Traditionally, dynamics are approximated by physics-based analytical models. These models rely on specific state representations that may be hard to obtain from raw sensory data, especially if no knowledge of the object shape is assumed. More recently, we have seen learning approaches that can predict the effect of complex physical interactions directly from sensory input. It is however an open question how far these models generalize beyond their training data. In this work, we investigate the advantages and limitations of neural network based learning approaches for predicting the effects of actions based on sensory input and show how analytical and learned models can be combined to leverage the best of both worlds. As physical interaction task, we use planar pushing, for which there exists a well-known analytical model and a large real-world dataset. We propose to use a convolutional neural network to convert raw depth images or organized point clouds into a suitable representation for the analytical model and compare this approach to using neural networks for both, perception and prediction. A systematic evaluation of the proposed approach on a very large real-world dataset shows two main advantages of the hybrid architecture. Compared to a pure neural network, it significantly (i) reduces required training data and (ii) improves generalization to novel physical interaction.

arXiv pdf link (url) DOI [BibTex]

2021

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Differentiable Factor Graph Optimization for Learning Smoothers

Yi, B. L. M. A. K. A. M. R. B. J.

2021 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), pages: 1339-1345, IEEE, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2021), September 2021 (conference)

DOI [BibTex]

2021

Yi, B. L. M. A. K. A. M. R. B. J. Differentiable Factor Graph Optimization for Learning Smoothers 2021 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), pages: 1339-1345, IEEE, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2021), September 2021 (conference)

DOI [BibTex]

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Implementation of a Reactive Walking Controller for the New Open-Hardware Quadruped Solo-12

Leziart, P. F. T. G. F. M. N. S. P.

Proceedings IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pages: 5007-5013, IEEE, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), June 2021 (conference)

DOI [BibTex]

Leziart, P. F. T. G. F. M. N. S. P. Implementation of a Reactive Walking Controller for the New Open-Hardware Quadruped Solo-12 Proceedings IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pages: 5007-5013, IEEE, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), June 2021 (conference)

DOI [BibTex]

How to Train Your Differentiable Filter
How to Train Your Differentiable Filter

Kloss, A., Martius, G., Bohg, J.

Autonomous Robots, 45(4):561-578, Springer, June 2021 (article)

Abstract
In many robotic applications, it is crucial to maintain a belief about the state of a system, which serves as input for planning and decision making and provides feedback during task execution. Bayesian Filtering algorithms address this state estimation problem, but they require models of process dynamics and sensory observations and the respective noise characteristics of these models. Recently, multiple works have demonstrated that these models can be learned by end-to-end training through differentiable versions of recursive filtering algorithms. In this work, we investigate the advantages of differentiable filters (DFs) over both unstructured learning approaches and manually-tuned filtering algorithms, and provide practical guidance to researchers interested in applying such differentiable filters. For this, we implement DFs with four different underlying filtering algorithms and compare them in extensive experiments. Specifically, we (i) evaluate different implementation choices and training approaches, (ii) investigate how well complex models of uncertainty can be learned in DFs, (iii) evaluate the effect of end-to-end training through DFs and (iv) compare the DFs among each other and to unstructured LSTM models.

arXiv paper link (url) DOI [BibTex]

Kloss, A., Martius, G., Bohg, J. How to Train Your Differentiable Filter Autonomous Robots, 45(4):561-578, Springer, June 2021 (article)

arXiv paper link (url) DOI [BibTex]

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GraspME - Grasp Manifold Estimator

Hager, J., Bauer, R., Toussaint, M., Mainprice, J.

In 2021 30th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2021), pages: 626-632, IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 30th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2021) , 2021 (inproceedings)

DOI [BibTex]

Hager, J., Bauer, R., Toussaint, M., Mainprice, J. GraspME - Grasp Manifold Estimator In 2021 30th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2021), pages: 626-632, IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 30th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2021) , 2021 (inproceedings)

DOI [BibTex]

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A System for Traded Control Teleoperation of Manipulation Tasks using Intent Prediction from Hand Gestures

Oh, Y., Schäfer, T., Rüther, B., Toussaint, M., Mainprice, J.

In 2021 30th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2021), pages: 503-508, IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 30th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2021), 2021 (inproceedings)

DOI [BibTex]

Oh, Y., Schäfer, T., Rüther, B., Toussaint, M., Mainprice, J. A System for Traded Control Teleoperation of Manipulation Tasks using Intent Prediction from Hand Gestures In 2021 30th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2021), pages: 503-508, IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 30th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2021), 2021 (inproceedings)

DOI [BibTex]

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Hierarchical Human-Motion Prediction and Logic-Geometric Programming for Minimal Interference Human-Robot Tasks

Le, A. T., Kratzer, P., Hagenmayer, S., Toussaint, M., Mainprice, J.

In 2021 30th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2021) , pages: 7-14, IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 30th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2021), 2021 (inproceedings)

DOI [BibTex]

Le, A. T., Kratzer, P., Hagenmayer, S., Toussaint, M., Mainprice, J. Hierarchical Human-Motion Prediction and Logic-Geometric Programming for Minimal Interference Human-Robot Tasks In 2021 30th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2021) , pages: 7-14, IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 30th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2021), 2021 (inproceedings)

DOI [BibTex]

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Learning to Arbitrate Human and Robot Control using Disagreement between Sub-Policies

Oh, Y., Toussaint, M., Mainprice, J.

In 2021 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2021), pages: 5305-5311, IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2021), 2021 (inproceedings)

DOI [BibTex]

Oh, Y., Toussaint, M., Mainprice, J. Learning to Arbitrate Human and Robot Control using Disagreement between Sub-Policies In 2021 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2021), pages: 5305-5311, IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2021), 2021 (inproceedings)

DOI [BibTex]

2020

TriFinger: An Open-Source Robot for Learning Dexterity
TriFinger: An Open-Source Robot for Learning Dexterity

Wüthrich, M., Widmaier, F., Grimminger, F., Akpo, J., Joshi, S., Agrawal, V., Hammoud, B., Khadiv, M., Bogdanovic, M., Berenz, V., Viereck, J., Naveau, M., Righetti, L., Schölkopf, B., Bauer, S.

Proceedings of the 4th Conference on Robot Learning (CoRL), 155, pages: 1871-1882, Proceedings of Machine Learning Research, (Editors: Jens Kober and Fabio Ramos and Claire J. Tomlin), PMLR, November 2020 (conference)

PDF link (url) [BibTex]

2020

Wüthrich, M., Widmaier, F., Grimminger, F., Akpo, J., Joshi, S., Agrawal, V., Hammoud, B., Khadiv, M., Bogdanovic, M., Berenz, V., Viereck, J., Naveau, M., Righetti, L., Schölkopf, B., Bauer, S. TriFinger: An Open-Source Robot for Learning Dexterity Proceedings of the 4th Conference on Robot Learning (CoRL), 155, pages: 1871-1882, Proceedings of Machine Learning Research, (Editors: Jens Kober and Fabio Ramos and Claire J. Tomlin), PMLR, November 2020 (conference)

PDF link (url) [BibTex]

Learning Sensory-Motor Associations from Demonstration
Learning Sensory-Motor Associations from Demonstration

Berenz, V., Bjelic, A., Herath, L., Mainprice, J.

29th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (Ro-Man 2020), August 2020 (conference)

Abstract
We propose a method which generates reactive robot behavior learned from human demonstration. In order to do so, we use the Playful programming language which is based on the reactive programming paradigm. This allows us to represent the learned behavior as a set of associations between sensor and motor primitives in a human readable script. Distinguishing between sensor and motor primitives introduces a supplementary level of granularity and more importantly enforces feedback, increasing adaptability and robustness. As the experimental section shows, useful behaviors may be learned from a single demonstration covering a very limited portion of the task space.

[BibTex]

Berenz, V., Bjelic, A., Herath, L., Mainprice, J. Learning Sensory-Motor Associations from Demonstration 29th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (Ro-Man 2020), August 2020 (conference)

[BibTex]

Accurate Vision-based Manipulation through Contact Reasoning
Accurate Vision-based Manipulation through Contact Reasoning

Kloss, A., Bauza, M., Wu, J., Tenenbaum, J. B., Rodriguez, A., Bohg, J.

In International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 2020 (inproceedings) Accepted

Abstract
Planning contact interactions is one of the core challenges of many robotic tasks. Optimizing contact locations while taking dynamics into account is computationally costly and in only partially observed environments, executing contact-based tasks often suffers from low accuracy. We present an approach that addresses these two challenges for the problem of vision-based manipulation. First, we propose to disentangle contact from motion optimization. Thereby, we improve planning efficiency by focusing computation on promising contact locations. Second, we use a hybrid approach for perception and state estimation that combines neural networks with a physically meaningful state representation. In simulation and real-world experiments on the task of planar pushing, we show that our method is more efficient and achieves a higher manipulation accuracy than previous vision-based approaches.

Video link (url) [BibTex]

Kloss, A., Bauza, M., Wu, J., Tenenbaum, J. B., Rodriguez, A., Bohg, J. Accurate Vision-based Manipulation through Contact Reasoning In International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 2020 (inproceedings) Accepted

Video link (url) [BibTex]

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A Real-Robot Dataset for Assessing Transferability of Learned Dynamics Models

Agudelo-España, D., Zadaianchuk, A., Wenk, P., Garg, A., Akpo, J., Grimminger, F., Viereck, J., Naveau, M., Righetti, L., Martius, G., Krause, A., Schölkopf, B., Bauer, S., Wüthrich, M.

IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pages: 8151-8157, IEEE, 2020 (conference)

Project Page PDF DOI Project Page [BibTex]

Agudelo-España, D., Zadaianchuk, A., Wenk, P., Garg, A., Akpo, J., Grimminger, F., Viereck, J., Naveau, M., Righetti, L., Martius, G., Krause, A., Schölkopf, B., Bauer, S., Wüthrich, M. A Real-Robot Dataset for Assessing Transferability of Learned Dynamics Models IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pages: 8151-8157, IEEE, 2020 (conference)

Project Page PDF DOI Project Page [BibTex]

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An Interior Point Method Solving Motion Planning Problems with Narrow Passages

Mainprice, J., Ratliff, N., Toussaint, M., Schaal, S.

In 2020 29th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2020), pages: 547-552, IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 29th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2020), 2020 (inproceedings)

DOI [BibTex]

Mainprice, J., Ratliff, N., Toussaint, M., Schaal, S. An Interior Point Method Solving Motion Planning Problems with Narrow Passages In 2020 29th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2020), pages: 547-552, IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 29th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2020), 2020 (inproceedings)

DOI [BibTex]

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Prediction of Human Full-Body Movements with Motion Optimization and Recurrent Neural Networks

Kratzer, P., Toussaint, M., Mainprice, J.

In 2020 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2020), pages: 1792-1798, IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2020), 2020 (inproceedings)

DOI [BibTex]

Kratzer, P., Toussaint, M., Mainprice, J. Prediction of Human Full-Body Movements with Motion Optimization and Recurrent Neural Networks In 2020 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2020), pages: 1792-1798, IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2020), 2020 (inproceedings)

DOI [BibTex]

Safe and Fast Tracking on a Robot Manipulator: Robust MPC and Neural Network Control
Safe and Fast Tracking on a Robot Manipulator: Robust MPC and Neural Network Control

Nubert, J., Koehler, J., Berenz, V., Allgower, F., Trimpe, S.

IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 5(2):3050-3057, 2020 (article)

Abstract
Fast feedback control and safety guarantees are essential in modern robotics. We present an approach that achieves both by combining novel robust model predictive control (MPC) with function approximation via (deep) neural networks (NNs). The result is a new approach for complex tasks with nonlinear, uncertain, and constrained dynamics as are common in robotics. Specifically, we leverage recent results in MPC research to propose a new robust setpoint tracking MPC algorithm, which achieves reliable and safe tracking of a dynamic setpoint while guaranteeing stability and constraint satisfaction. The presented robust MPC scheme constitutes a one-layer approach that unifies the often separated planning and control layers, by directly computing the control command based on a reference and possibly obstacle positions. As a separate contribution, we show how the computation time of the MPC can be drastically reduced by approximating the MPC law with a NN controller. The NN is trained and validated from offline samples of the MPC, yielding statistical guarantees, and used in lieu thereof at run time. Our experiments on a state-of-the-art robot manipulator are the first to show that both the proposed robust and approximate MPC schemes scale to real-world robotic systems.

arXiv PDF DOI [BibTex]

Nubert, J., Koehler, J., Berenz, V., Allgower, F., Trimpe, S. Safe and Fast Tracking on a Robot Manipulator: Robust MPC and Neural Network Control IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 5(2):3050-3057, 2020 (article)

arXiv PDF DOI [BibTex]

2019

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On the Transfer of Inductive Bias from Simulation to the Real World: a New Disentanglement Dataset

Gondal, M. W., Wüthrich, M., Miladinovic, D., Locatello, F., Breidt, M., Volchkov, V., Akpo, J., Bachem, O., Schölkopf, B., Bauer, S.

Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 32 (NeurIPS 2019), pages: 15714-15725, (Editors: H. Wallach and H. Larochelle and A. Beygelzimer and F. d’Alché-Buc and E. Fox and R. Garnett), Curran Associates, Inc., 33rd Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2019 (conference)

link (url) Project Page [BibTex]

2019

Gondal, M. W., Wüthrich, M., Miladinovic, D., Locatello, F., Breidt, M., Volchkov, V., Akpo, J., Bachem, O., Schölkopf, B., Bauer, S. On the Transfer of Inductive Bias from Simulation to the Real World: a New Disentanglement Dataset Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 32 (NeurIPS 2019), pages: 15714-15725, (Editors: H. Wallach and H. Larochelle and A. Beygelzimer and F. d’Alché-Buc and E. Fox and R. Garnett), Curran Associates, Inc., 33rd Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2019 (conference)

link (url) Project Page [BibTex]

Learning Latent Space Dynamics for Tactile Servoing
Learning Latent Space Dynamics for Tactile Servoing

Sutanto, G., Ratliff, N., Sundaralingam, B., Chebotar, Y., Su, Z., Handa, A., Fox, D.

In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2019, IEEE, International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 2019 (inproceedings) Accepted

pdf video [BibTex]

Sutanto, G., Ratliff, N., Sundaralingam, B., Chebotar, Y., Su, Z., Handa, A., Fox, D. Learning Latent Space Dynamics for Tactile Servoing In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2019, IEEE, International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 2019 (inproceedings) Accepted

pdf video [BibTex]

Leveraging Contact Forces for Learning to Grasp
Leveraging Contact Forces for Learning to Grasp

Merzic, H., Bogdanovic, M., Kappler, D., Righetti, L., Bohg, J.

In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2019, IEEE, International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 2019 (inproceedings)

Abstract
Grasping objects under uncertainty remains an open problem in robotics research. This uncertainty is often due to noisy or partial observations of the object pose or shape. To enable a robot to react appropriately to unforeseen effects, it is crucial that it continuously takes sensor feedback into account. While visual feedback is important for inferring a grasp pose and reaching for an object, contact feedback offers valuable information during manipulation and grasp acquisition. In this paper, we use model-free deep reinforcement learning to synthesize control policies that exploit contact sensing to generate robust grasping under uncertainty. We demonstrate our approach on a multi-fingered hand that exhibits more complex finger coordination than the commonly used two- fingered grippers. We conduct extensive experiments in order to assess the performance of the learned policies, with and without contact sensing. While it is possible to learn grasping policies without contact sensing, our results suggest that contact feedback allows for a significant improvement of grasping robustness under object pose uncertainty and for objects with a complex shape.

video arXiv [BibTex]

Merzic, H., Bogdanovic, M., Kappler, D., Righetti, L., Bohg, J. Leveraging Contact Forces for Learning to Grasp In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2019, IEEE, International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 2019 (inproceedings)

video arXiv [BibTex]

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Statistical Coverage Control of Mobile Sensor Networks

Arslan, Ö.

IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 35(4):889-908, 2019 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

Arslan, Ö. Statistical Coverage Control of Mobile Sensor Networks IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 35(4):889-908, 2019 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

2018

A Value-Driven Eldercare Robot: Virtual and Physical Instantiations of a Case-Supported Principle-Based Behavior Paradigm
A Value-Driven Eldercare Robot: Virtual and Physical Instantiations of a Case-Supported Principle-Based Behavior Paradigm

Anderson, M., Anderson, S., Berenz, V.

Proceedings of the IEEE, pages: 1,15, October 2018 (article)

Abstract
In this paper, a case-supported principle-based behavior paradigm is proposed to help ensure ethical behavior of autonomous machines. We argue that ethically significant behavior of autonomous systems should be guided by explicit ethical principles determined through a consensus of ethicists. Such a consensus is likely to emerge in many areas in which autonomous systems are apt to be deployed and for the actions they are liable to undertake. We believe that this is the case since we are more likely to agree on how machines ought to treat us than on how human beings ought to treat one another. Given such a consensus, particular cases of ethical dilemmas where ethicists agree on the ethically relevant features and the right course of action can be used to help discover principles that balance these features when they are in conflict. Such principles not only help ensure ethical behavior of complex and dynamic systems but also can serve as a basis for justification of this behavior. The requirements, methods, implementation, and evaluation components of the paradigm are detailed as well as its instantiation in both a simulated and real robot functioning in the domain of eldercare.

link (url) DOI [BibTex]

ClusterNet: Instance Segmentation in RGB-D Images
ClusterNet: Instance Segmentation in RGB-D Images

Shao, L., Tian, Y., Bohg, J.

arXiv, September 2018, Submitted to ICRA'19 (article) Submitted

Abstract
We propose a method for instance-level segmentation that uses RGB-D data as input and provides detailed information about the location, geometry and number of {\em individual\/} objects in the scene. This level of understanding is fundamental for autonomous robots. It enables safe and robust decision-making under the large uncertainty of the real-world. In our model, we propose to use the first and second order moments of the object occupancy function to represent an object instance. We train an hourglass Deep Neural Network (DNN) where each pixel in the output votes for the 3D position of the corresponding object center and for the object's size and pose. The final instance segmentation is achieved through clustering in the space of moments. The object-centric training loss is defined on the output of the clustering. Our method outperforms the state-of-the-art instance segmentation method on our synthesized dataset. We show that our method generalizes well on real-world data achieving visually better segmentation results.

link (url) [BibTex]

Shao, L., Tian, Y., Bohg, J. ClusterNet: Instance Segmentation in RGB-D Images arXiv, September 2018, Submitted to ICRA'19 (article) Submitted

link (url) [BibTex]

Playful: Reactive Programming for Orchestrating Robotic Behavior
Playful: Reactive Programming for Orchestrating Robotic Behavior

Berenz, V., Schaal, S.

IEEE Robotics Automation Magazine, 25(3):49-60, September 2018 (article) In press

Abstract
For many service robots, reactivity to changes in their surroundings is a must. However, developing software suitable for dynamic environments is difficult. Existing robotic middleware allows engineers to design behavior graphs by organizing communication between components. But because these graphs are structurally inflexible, they hardly support the development of complex reactive behavior. To address this limitation, we propose Playful, a software platform that applies reactive programming to the specification of robotic behavior.

playful website playful_IEEE_RAM link (url) DOI [BibTex]

Probabilistic Recurrent State-Space Models
Probabilistic Recurrent State-Space Models

Doerr, A., Daniel, C., Schiegg, M., Nguyen-Tuong, D., Schaal, S., Toussaint, M., Trimpe, S.

In Proceedings of the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), July 2018 (inproceedings)

Abstract
State-space models (SSMs) are a highly expressive model class for learning patterns in time series data and for system identification. Deterministic versions of SSMs (e.g., LSTMs) proved extremely successful in modeling complex time-series data. Fully probabilistic SSMs, however, unfortunately often prove hard to train, even for smaller problems. To overcome this limitation, we propose a scalable initialization and training algorithm based on doubly stochastic variational inference and Gaussian processes. In the variational approximation we propose in contrast to related approaches to fully capture the latent state temporal correlations to allow for robust training.

arXiv pdf Project Page [BibTex]

Doerr, A., Daniel, C., Schiegg, M., Nguyen-Tuong, D., Schaal, S., Toussaint, M., Trimpe, S. Probabilistic Recurrent State-Space Models In Proceedings of the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), July 2018 (inproceedings)

arXiv pdf Project Page [BibTex]

Real-time Perception meets Reactive Motion Generation
Real-time Perception meets Reactive Motion Generation

(Best Systems Paper Finalists - Amazon Robotics Best Paper Awards in Manipulation)

Kappler, D., Meier, F., Issac, J., Mainprice, J., Garcia Cifuentes, C., Wüthrich, M., Berenz, V., Schaal, S., Ratliff, N., Bohg, J.

IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 3(3):1864-1871, July 2018 (article)

Abstract
We address the challenging problem of robotic grasping and manipulation in the presence of uncertainty. This uncertainty is due to noisy sensing, inaccurate models and hard-to-predict environment dynamics. Our approach emphasizes the importance of continuous, real-time perception and its tight integration with reactive motion generation methods. We present a fully integrated system where real-time object and robot tracking as well as ambient world modeling provides the necessary input to feedback controllers and continuous motion optimizers. Specifically, they provide attractive and repulsive potentials based on which the controllers and motion optimizer can online compute movement policies at different time intervals. We extensively evaluate the proposed system on a real robotic platform in four scenarios that exhibit either challenging workspace geometry or a dynamic environment. We compare the proposed integrated system with a more traditional sense-plan-act approach that is still widely used. In 333 experiments, we show the robustness and accuracy of the proposed system.

arxiv video video link (url) DOI Project Page [BibTex]

Online Learning of a Memory for Learning Rates
Online Learning of a Memory for Learning Rates

(nominated for best paper award)

Meier, F., Kappler, D., Schaal, S.

In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2018, IEEE, International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 2018, accepted (inproceedings)

Abstract
The promise of learning to learn for robotics rests on the hope that by extracting some information about the learning process itself we can speed up subsequent similar learning tasks. Here, we introduce a computationally efficient online meta-learning algorithm that builds and optimizes a memory model of the optimal learning rate landscape from previously observed gradient behaviors. While performing task specific optimization, this memory of learning rates predicts how to scale currently observed gradients. After applying the gradient scaling our meta-learner updates its internal memory based on the observed effect its prediction had. Our meta-learner can be combined with any gradient-based optimizer, learns on the fly and can be transferred to new optimization tasks. In our evaluations we show that our meta-learning algorithm speeds up learning of MNIST classification and a variety of learning control tasks, either in batch or online learning settings.

pdf video code [BibTex]

Meier, F., Kappler, D., Schaal, S. Online Learning of a Memory for Learning Rates In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2018, IEEE, International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 2018, accepted (inproceedings)

pdf video code [BibTex]

Learning Sensor Feedback Models from Demonstrations via Phase-Modulated Neural Networks
Learning Sensor Feedback Models from Demonstrations via Phase-Modulated Neural Networks

Sutanto, G., Su, Z., Schaal, S., Meier, F.

In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2018, IEEE, International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 2018 (inproceedings)

pdf video [BibTex]

Sutanto, G., Su, Z., Schaal, S., Meier, F. Learning Sensor Feedback Models from Demonstrations via Phase-Modulated Neural Networks In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2018, IEEE, International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 2018 (inproceedings)

pdf video [BibTex]

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On Time Optimization of Centroidal Momentum Dynamics

Ponton, B., Herzog, A., Del Prete, A., Schaal, S., Righetti, L.

In 2018 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pages: 5776-5782, IEEE, Brisbane, Australia, 2018 (inproceedings)

Abstract
Recently, the centroidal momentum dynamics has received substantial attention to plan dynamically consistent motions for robots with arms and legs in multi-contact scenarios. However, it is also non convex which renders any optimization approach difficult and timing is usually kept fixed in most trajectory optimization techniques to not introduce additional non convexities to the problem. But this can limit the versatility of the algorithms. In our previous work, we proposed a convex relaxation of the problem that allowed to efficiently compute momentum trajectories and contact forces. However, our approach could not minimize a desired angular momentum objective which seriously limited its applicability. Noticing that the non-convexity introduced by the time variables is of similar nature as the centroidal dynamics one, we propose two convex relaxations to the problem based on trust regions and soft constraints. The resulting approaches can compute time-optimized dynamically consistent trajectories sufficiently fast to make the approach realtime capable. The performance of the algorithm is demonstrated in several multi-contact scenarios for a humanoid robot. In particular, we show that the proposed convex relaxation of the original problem finds solutions that are consistent with the original non-convex problem and illustrate how timing optimization allows to find motion plans that would be difficult to plan with fixed timing † †Implementation details and demos can be found in the source code available at https://git-amd.tuebingen.mpg.de/bponton/timeoptimization.

link (url) DOI [BibTex]

Ponton, B., Herzog, A., Del Prete, A., Schaal, S., Righetti, L. On Time Optimization of Centroidal Momentum Dynamics In 2018 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pages: 5776-5782, IEEE, Brisbane, Australia, 2018 (inproceedings)

link (url) DOI [BibTex]

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Unsupervised Contact Learning for Humanoid Estimation and Control

Rotella, N., Schaal, S., Righetti, L.

In 2018 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pages: 411-417, IEEE, Brisbane, Australia, 2018 (inproceedings)

Abstract
This work presents a method for contact state estimation using fuzzy clustering to learn contact probability for full, six-dimensional humanoid contacts. The data required for training is solely from proprioceptive sensors - endeffector contact wrench sensors and inertial measurement units (IMUs) - and the method is completely unsupervised. The resulting cluster means are used to efficiently compute the probability of contact in each of the six endeffector degrees of freedom (DoFs) independently. This clustering-based contact probability estimator is validated in a kinematics-based base state estimator in a simulation environment with realistic added sensor noise for locomotion over rough, low-friction terrain on which the robot is subject to foot slip and rotation. The proposed base state estimator which utilizes these six DoF contact probability estimates is shown to perform considerably better than that which determines kinematic contact constraints purely based on measured normal force.

link (url) DOI [BibTex]

Rotella, N., Schaal, S., Righetti, L. Unsupervised Contact Learning for Humanoid Estimation and Control In 2018 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pages: 411-417, IEEE, Brisbane, Australia, 2018 (inproceedings)

link (url) DOI [BibTex]

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Learning Task-Specific Dynamics to Improve Whole-Body Control

Gams, A., Mason, S., Ude, A., Schaal, S., Righetti, L.

In Hua, IEEE, Beijing, China, November 2018 (inproceedings)

Abstract
In task-based inverse dynamics control, reference accelerations used to follow a desired plan can be broken down into feedforward and feedback trajectories. The feedback term accounts for tracking errors that are caused from inaccurate dynamic models or external disturbances. On underactuated, free-floating robots, such as humanoids, high feedback terms can be used to improve tracking accuracy; however, this can lead to very stiff behavior or poor tracking accuracy due to limited control bandwidth. In this paper, we show how to reduce the required contribution of the feedback controller by incorporating learned task-space reference accelerations. Thus, we i) improve the execution of the given specific task, and ii) offer the means to reduce feedback gains, providing for greater compliance of the system. With a systematic approach we also reduce heuristic tuning of the model parameters and feedback gains, often present in real-world experiments. In contrast to learning task-specific joint-torques, which might produce a similar effect but can lead to poor generalization, our approach directly learns the task-space dynamics of the center of mass of a humanoid robot. Simulated and real-world results on the lower part of the Sarcos Hermes humanoid robot demonstrate the applicability of the approach.

link (url) [BibTex]

Gams, A., Mason, S., Ude, A., Schaal, S., Righetti, L. Learning Task-Specific Dynamics to Improve Whole-Body Control In Hua, IEEE, Beijing, China, November 2018 (inproceedings)

link (url) [BibTex]

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An MPC Walking Framework With External Contact Forces

Mason, S., Rotella, N., Schaal, S., Righetti, L.

In 2018 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pages: 1785-1790, IEEE, Brisbane, Australia, May 2018 (inproceedings)

Abstract
In this work, we present an extension to a linear Model Predictive Control (MPC) scheme that plans external contact forces for the robot when given multiple contact locations and their corresponding friction cone. To this end, we set up a two-step optimization problem. In the first optimization, we compute the Center of Mass (CoM) trajectory, foot step locations, and introduce slack variables to account for violating the imposed constraints on the Zero Moment Point (ZMP). We then use the slack variables to trigger the second optimization, in which we calculate the optimal external force that compensates for the ZMP tracking error. This optimization considers multiple contacts positions within the environment by formulating the problem as a Mixed Integer Quadratic Program (MIQP) that can be solved at a speed between 100-300 Hz. Once contact is created, the MIQP reduces to a single Quadratic Program (QP) that can be solved in real-time ({\textless}; 1kHz). Simulations show that the presented walking control scheme can withstand disturbances 2-3× larger with the additional force provided by a hand contact.

link (url) DOI [BibTex]

Mason, S., Rotella, N., Schaal, S., Righetti, L. An MPC Walking Framework With External Contact Forces In 2018 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pages: 1785-1790, IEEE, Brisbane, Australia, May 2018 (inproceedings)

link (url) DOI [BibTex]

2017

Multi-Modal Imitation Learning from Unstructured Demonstrations using Generative Adversarial Nets
Multi-Modal Imitation Learning from Unstructured Demonstrations using Generative Adversarial Nets

Hausman, K., Chebotar, Y., Schaal, S., Sukhatme, G., Lim, J.

In Proceedings from the conference "Neural Information Processing Systems 2017., (Editors: Guyon I. and Luxburg U.v. and Bengio S. and Wallach H. and Fergus R. and Vishwanathan S. and Garnett R.), Curran Associates, Inc., Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 30 (NIPS), December 2017 (inproceedings)

pdf video [BibTex]

2017

Hausman, K., Chebotar, Y., Schaal, S., Sukhatme, G., Lim, J. Multi-Modal Imitation Learning from Unstructured Demonstrations using Generative Adversarial Nets In Proceedings from the conference "Neural Information Processing Systems 2017., (Editors: Guyon I. and Luxburg U.v. and Bengio S. and Wallach H. and Fergus R. and Vishwanathan S. and Garnett R.), Curran Associates, Inc., Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 30 (NIPS), December 2017 (inproceedings)

pdf video [BibTex]

On the Design of {LQR} Kernels for Efficient Controller Learning
On the Design of LQR Kernels for Efficient Controller Learning

Marco, A., Hennig, P., Schaal, S., Trimpe, S.

Proceedings of the 56th IEEE Annual Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), pages: 5193-5200, IEEE, IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, December 2017 (conference)

Abstract
Finding optimal feedback controllers for nonlinear dynamic systems from data is hard. Recently, Bayesian optimization (BO) has been proposed as a powerful framework for direct controller tuning from experimental trials. For selecting the next query point and finding the global optimum, BO relies on a probabilistic description of the latent objective function, typically a Gaussian process (GP). As is shown herein, GPs with a common kernel choice can, however, lead to poor learning outcomes on standard quadratic control problems. For a first-order system, we construct two kernels that specifically leverage the structure of the well-known Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR), yet retain the flexibility of Bayesian nonparametric learning. Simulations of uncertain linear and nonlinear systems demonstrate that the LQR kernels yield superior learning performance.

arXiv PDF On the Design of LQR Kernels for Efficient Controller Learning - CDC presentation DOI Project Page Project Page [BibTex]

Marco, A., Hennig, P., Schaal, S., Trimpe, S. On the Design of LQR Kernels for Efficient Controller Learning Proceedings of the 56th IEEE Annual Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), pages: 5193-5200, IEEE, IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, December 2017 (conference)

arXiv PDF On the Design of LQR Kernels for Efficient Controller Learning - CDC presentation DOI Project Page Project Page [BibTex]

Interactive Perception: Leveraging Action in Perception and Perception in Action
Interactive Perception: Leveraging Action in Perception and Perception in Action

Bohg, J., Hausman, K., Sankaran, B., Brock, O., Kragic, D., Schaal, S., Sukhatme, G.

IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 33, pages: 1273-1291, December 2017 (article)

Abstract
Recent approaches in robotics follow the insight that perception is facilitated by interactivity with the environment. These approaches are subsumed under the term of Interactive Perception (IP). We argue that IP provides the following benefits: (i) any type of forceful interaction with the environment creates a new type of informative sensory signal that would otherwise not be present and (ii) any prior knowledge about the nature of the interaction supports the interpretation of the signal. This is facilitated by knowledge of the regularity in the combined space of sensory information and action parameters. The goal of this survey is to postulate this as a principle and collect evidence in support by analyzing and categorizing existing work in this area. We also provide an overview of the most important applications of Interactive Perception. We close this survey by discussing the remaining open questions. Thereby, we hope to define a field and inspire future work.

arXiv DOI Project Page [BibTex]

Bohg, J., Hausman, K., Sankaran, B., Brock, O., Kragic, D., Schaal, S., Sukhatme, G. Interactive Perception: Leveraging Action in Perception and Perception in Action IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 33, pages: 1273-1291, December 2017 (article)

arXiv DOI Project Page [BibTex]

Optimizing Long-term Predictions for Model-based Policy Search
Optimizing Long-term Predictions for Model-based Policy Search

Doerr, A., Daniel, C., Nguyen-Tuong, D., Marco, A., Schaal, S., Toussaint, M., Trimpe, S.

Proceedings of 1st Annual Conference on Robot Learning (CoRL), 78, pages: 227-238, (Editors: Sergey Levine and Vincent Vanhoucke and Ken Goldberg), 1st Annual Conference on Robot Learning, November 2017 (conference)

Abstract
We propose a novel long-term optimization criterion to improve the robustness of model-based reinforcement learning in real-world scenarios. Learning a dynamics model to derive a solution promises much greater data-efficiency and reusability compared to model-free alternatives. In practice, however, modelbased RL suffers from various imperfections such as noisy input and output data, delays and unmeasured (latent) states. To achieve higher resilience against such effects, we propose to optimize a generative long-term prediction model directly with respect to the likelihood of observed trajectories as opposed to the common approach of optimizing a dynamics model for one-step-ahead predictions. We evaluate the proposed method on several artificial and real-world benchmark problems and compare it to PILCO, a model-based RL framework, in experiments on a manipulation robot. The results show that the proposed method is competitive compared to state-of-the-art model learning methods. In contrast to these more involved models, our model can directly be employed for policy search and outperforms a baseline method in the robot experiment.

PDF Project Page [BibTex]

Doerr, A., Daniel, C., Nguyen-Tuong, D., Marco, A., Schaal, S., Toussaint, M., Trimpe, S. Optimizing Long-term Predictions for Model-based Policy Search Proceedings of 1st Annual Conference on Robot Learning (CoRL), 78, pages: 227-238, (Editors: Sergey Levine and Vincent Vanhoucke and Ken Goldberg), 1st Annual Conference on Robot Learning, November 2017 (conference)

PDF Project Page [BibTex]

Acquiring Target Stacking Skills by Goal-Parameterized Deep Reinforcement Learning
Acquiring Target Stacking Skills by Goal-Parameterized Deep Reinforcement Learning

Li, W., Bohg, J., Fritz, M.

arXiv, November 2017 (article) Submitted

Abstract
Understanding physical phenomena is a key component of human intelligence and enables physical interaction with previously unseen environments. In this paper, we study how an artificial agent can autonomously acquire this intuition through interaction with the environment. We created a synthetic block stacking environment with physics simulation in which the agent can learn a policy end-to-end through trial and error. Thereby, we bypass to explicitly model physical knowledge within the policy. We are specifically interested in tasks that require the agent to reach a given goal state that may be different for every new trial. To this end, we propose a deep reinforcement learning framework that learns policies which are parametrized by a goal. We validated the model on a toy example navigating in a grid world with different target positions and in a block stacking task with different target structures of the final tower. In contrast to prior work, our policies show better generalization across different goals.

arXiv [BibTex]

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A New Data Source for Inverse Dynamics Learning

Kappler, D., Meier, F., Ratliff, N., Schaal, S.

In Proceedings IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, USA, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), September 2017 (inproceedings)

[BibTex]

Kappler, D., Meier, F., Ratliff, N., Schaal, S. A New Data Source for Inverse Dynamics Learning In Proceedings IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, USA, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), September 2017 (inproceedings)

[BibTex]

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Bayesian Regression for Artifact Correction in Electroencephalography

Fiebig, K., Jayaram, V., Hesse, T., Blank, A., Peters, J., Grosse-Wentrup, M.

Proceedings of the 7th Graz Brain-Computer Interface Conference 2017 - From Vision to Reality, pages: 131-136, (Editors: Müller-Putz G.R., Steyrl D., Wriessnegger S. C., Scherer R.), Graz University of Technology, Austria, Graz Brain-Computer Interface Conference, September 2017 (conference)

DOI [BibTex]

Fiebig, K., Jayaram, V., Hesse, T., Blank, A., Peters, J., Grosse-Wentrup, M. Bayesian Regression for Artifact Correction in Electroencephalography Proceedings of the 7th Graz Brain-Computer Interface Conference 2017 - From Vision to Reality, pages: 131-136, (Editors: Müller-Putz G.R., Steyrl D., Wriessnegger S. C., Scherer R.), Graz University of Technology, Austria, Graz Brain-Computer Interface Conference, September 2017 (conference)

DOI [BibTex]

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Investigating Music Imagery as a Cognitive Paradigm for Low-Cost Brain-Computer Interfaces

Grossberger, L., Hohmann, M. R., Peters, J., Grosse-Wentrup, M.

Proceedings of the 7th Graz Brain-Computer Interface Conference 2017 - From Vision to Reality, pages: 160-164, (Editors: Müller-Putz G.R., Steyrl D., Wriessnegger S. C., Scherer R.), Graz University of Technology, Austria, Graz Brain-Computer Interface Conference, September 2017 (conference)

DOI [BibTex]

Grossberger, L., Hohmann, M. R., Peters, J., Grosse-Wentrup, M. Investigating Music Imagery as a Cognitive Paradigm for Low-Cost Brain-Computer Interfaces Proceedings of the 7th Graz Brain-Computer Interface Conference 2017 - From Vision to Reality, pages: 160-164, (Editors: Müller-Putz G.R., Steyrl D., Wriessnegger S. C., Scherer R.), Graz University of Technology, Austria, Graz Brain-Computer Interface Conference, September 2017 (conference)

DOI [BibTex]

On the relevance of grasp metrics for predicting grasp success
On the relevance of grasp metrics for predicting grasp success

Rubert, C., Kappler, D., Morales, A., Schaal, S., Bohg, J.

In Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference of Intelligent Robots and Systems, September 2017 (inproceedings) Accepted

Abstract
We aim to reliably predict whether a grasp on a known object is successful before it is executed in the real world. There is an entire suite of grasp metrics that has already been developed which rely on precisely known contact points between object and hand. However, it remains unclear whether and how they may be combined into a general purpose grasp stability predictor. In this paper, we analyze these questions by leveraging a large scale database of simulated grasps on a wide variety of objects. For each grasp, we compute the value of seven metrics. Each grasp is annotated by human subjects with ground truth stability labels. Given this data set, we train several classification methods to find out whether there is some underlying, non-trivial structure in the data that is difficult to model manually but can be learned. Quantitative and qualitative results show the complexity of the prediction problem. We found that a good prediction performance critically depends on using a combination of metrics as input features. Furthermore, non-parametric and non-linear classifiers best capture the structure in the data.

Project Page [BibTex]

Rubert, C., Kappler, D., Morales, A., Schaal, S., Bohg, J. On the relevance of grasp metrics for predicting grasp success In Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference of Intelligent Robots and Systems, September 2017 (inproceedings) Accepted

Project Page [BibTex]

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Local Bayesian Optimization of Motor Skills

Akrour, R., Sorokin, D., Peters, J., Neumann, G.

Proceedings of the 34th International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), 70, pages: 41-50, Proceedings of Machine Learning Research, (Editors: Doina Precup, Yee Whye Teh), PMLR, August 2017 (conference)

link (url) [BibTex]

Akrour, R., Sorokin, D., Peters, J., Neumann, G. Local Bayesian Optimization of Motor Skills Proceedings of the 34th International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), 70, pages: 41-50, Proceedings of Machine Learning Research, (Editors: Doina Precup, Yee Whye Teh), PMLR, August 2017 (conference)

link (url) [BibTex]

Combining Model-Based and Model-Free Updates for Trajectory-Centric Reinforcement Learning
Combining Model-Based and Model-Free Updates for Trajectory-Centric Reinforcement Learning

Chebotar, Y., Hausman, K., Zhang, M., Sukhatme, G., Schaal, S., Levine, S.

Proceedings of the 34th International Conference on Machine Learning, 70, Proceedings of Machine Learning Research, (Editors: Doina Precup, Yee Whye Teh), PMLR, International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), August 2017 (conference)

pdf video [BibTex]

Chebotar, Y., Hausman, K., Zhang, M., Sukhatme, G., Schaal, S., Levine, S. Combining Model-Based and Model-Free Updates for Trajectory-Centric Reinforcement Learning Proceedings of the 34th International Conference on Machine Learning, 70, Proceedings of Machine Learning Research, (Editors: Doina Precup, Yee Whye Teh), PMLR, International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), August 2017 (conference)

pdf video [BibTex]

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Event-based State Estimation: An Emulation-based Approach

Trimpe, S.

IET Control Theory & Applications, 11(11):1684-1693, July 2017 (article)

Abstract
An event-based state estimation approach for reducing communication in a networked control system is proposed. Multiple distributed sensor agents observe a dynamic process and sporadically transmit their measurements to estimator agents over a shared bus network. Local event-triggering protocols ensure that data is transmitted only when necessary to meet a desired estimation accuracy. The event-based design is shown to emulate the performance of a centralised state observer design up to guaranteed bounds, but with reduced communication. The stability results for state estimation are extended to the distributed control system that results when the local estimates are used for feedback control. Results from numerical simulations and hardware experiments illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in reducing network communication.

arXiv Supplementary material PDF DOI Project Page [BibTex]

Model-Based Policy Search for Automatic Tuning of Multivariate PID Controllers
Model-Based Policy Search for Automatic Tuning of Multivariate PID Controllers

Doerr, A., Nguyen-Tuong, D., Marco, A., Schaal, S., Trimpe, S.

In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pages: 5295-5301, IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, USA, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), May 2017 (inproceedings)

PDF arXiv DOI Project Page [BibTex]

Doerr, A., Nguyen-Tuong, D., Marco, A., Schaal, S., Trimpe, S. Model-Based Policy Search for Automatic Tuning of Multivariate PID Controllers In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pages: 5295-5301, IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, USA, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), May 2017 (inproceedings)

PDF arXiv DOI Project Page [BibTex]

Learning Feedback Terms for Reactive Planning and Control
Learning Feedback Terms for Reactive Planning and Control

Rai, A., Sutanto, G., Schaal, S., Meier, F.

Proceedings 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, USA, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), May 2017 (conference)

pdf video [BibTex]

Rai, A., Sutanto, G., Schaal, S., Meier, F. Learning Feedback Terms for Reactive Planning and Control Proceedings 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, USA, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), May 2017 (conference)

pdf video [BibTex]

Virtual vs. {R}eal: Trading Off Simulations and Physical Experiments in Reinforcement Learning with {B}ayesian Optimization
Virtual vs. Real: Trading Off Simulations and Physical Experiments in Reinforcement Learning with Bayesian Optimization

Marco, A., Berkenkamp, F., Hennig, P., Schoellig, A. P., Krause, A., Schaal, S., Trimpe, S.

In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pages: 1557-1563, IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, USA, May 2017 (inproceedings)

PDF arXiv ICRA 2017 Spotlight presentation Virtual vs. Real - Video explanation DOI Project Page Project Page [BibTex]

Marco, A., Berkenkamp, F., Hennig, P., Schoellig, A. P., Krause, A., Schaal, S., Trimpe, S. Virtual vs. Real: Trading Off Simulations and Physical Experiments in Reinforcement Learning with Bayesian Optimization In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pages: 1557-1563, IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, USA, May 2017 (inproceedings)

PDF arXiv ICRA 2017 Spotlight presentation Virtual vs. Real - Video explanation DOI Project Page Project Page [BibTex]