Publications | Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems

2020

ics Beuchert, J., Solowjow, F., Raisch, J., Trimpe, S., Seel, T. Hierarchical Event-triggered Learning for Cyclically Excited Systems with Application to Wireless Sensor Networks IEEE Control Systems Letters, 4(1):103-108, January 2020 (article) To be published

Control-guided Communication: Efficient Resource Arbitration and Allocation in Multi-hop Wireless Control Systems

Baumann, D., Mager, F., Zimmerling, M., Trimpe, S.

IEEE Control Systems Letters, 4(1):127-132, January 2020 (article) To be published

ics

ics Baumann, D., Mager, F., Zimmerling, M., Trimpe, S. Control-guided Communication: Efficient Resource Arbitration and Allocation in Multi-hop Wireless Control Systems IEEE Control Systems Letters, 4(1):127-132, January 2020 (article) To be published

2018

Deep Reinforcement Learning for Event-Triggered Control

Baumann, D., Zhu, J., Martius, G., Trimpe, S.

In Proceedings of the 57th IEEE International Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), pages: 943-950, 57th IEEE International Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), December 2018 (inproceedings)

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arXiv PDF DOI Project Page Project Page [BibTex]

2018

al ics Baumann, D., Zhu, J., Martius, G., Trimpe, S. Deep Reinforcement Learning for Event-Triggered Control In Proceedings of the 57th IEEE International Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), pages: 943-950, 57th IEEE International Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), December 2018 (inproceedings)

arXiv PDF DOI Project Page Project Page [BibTex]

Efficient Encoding of Dynamical Systems through Local Approximations

Solowjow, F., Mehrjou, A., Schölkopf, B., Trimpe, S.

In Proceedings of the 57th IEEE International Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), pages: 6073 - 6079 , Miami, Fl, USA, December 2018 (inproceedings)

ei ics

ei ics Solowjow, F., Mehrjou, A., Schölkopf, B., Trimpe, S. Efficient Encoding of Dynamical Systems through Local Approximations In Proceedings of the 57th IEEE International Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), pages: 6073 - 6079 , Miami, Fl, USA, December 2018 (inproceedings)

Depth Control of Underwater Robots using Sliding Modes and Gaussian Process Regression

Lima, G. S., Bessa, W. M., Trimpe, S.

In Proceeding of the 15th Latin American Robotics Symposium, João Pessoa, Brazil, 15th Latin American Robotics Symposium, November 2018 (inproceedings)

Abstract

The development of accurate control systems for underwater robotic vehicles relies on the adequate compensation for hydrodynamic effects. In this work, a new robust control scheme is presented for remotely operated underwater vehicles. In order to meet both robustness and tracking requirements, sliding mode control is combined with Gaussian process regression. The convergence properties of the closed-loop signals are analytically proven. Numerical results confirm the stronger improved performance of the proposed control scheme.

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ics Lima, G. S., Bessa, W. M., Trimpe, S. Depth Control of Underwater Robots using Sliding Modes and Gaussian Process Regression In Proceeding of the 15th Latin American Robotics Symposium, João Pessoa, Brazil, 15th Latin American Robotics Symposium, November 2018 (inproceedings)

arXiv IEEE Xplore DOI Project Page [BibTex]

Gait learning for soft microrobots controlled by light fields

Rohr, A. V., Trimpe, S., Marco, A., Fischer, P., Palagi, S.

In International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2018, pages: 6199-6206, International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems 2018, October 2018 (inproceedings)

Abstract

Soft microrobots based on photoresponsive materials and controlled by light fields can generate a variety of different gaits. This inherent flexibility can be exploited to maximize their locomotion performance in a given environment and used to adapt them to changing environments. However, because of the lack of accurate locomotion models, and given the intrinsic variability among microrobots, analytical control design is not possible. Common data-driven approaches, on the other hand, require running prohibitive numbers of experiments and lead to very sample-specific results. Here we propose a probabilistic learning approach for light-controlled soft microrobots based on Bayesian Optimization (BO) and Gaussian Processes (GPs). The proposed approach results in a learning scheme that is highly data-efficient, enabling gait optimization with a limited experimental budget, and robust against differences among microrobot samples. These features are obtained by designing the learning scheme through the comparison of different GP priors and BO settings on a semisynthetic data set. The developed learning scheme is validated in microrobot experiments, resulting in a 115% improvement in a microrobot’s locomotion performance with an experimental budget of only 20 tests. These encouraging results lead the way toward self-adaptive microrobotic systems based on lightcontrolled soft microrobots and probabilistic learning control.

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ics pf Rohr, A. V., Trimpe, S., Marco, A., Fischer, P., Palagi, S. Gait learning for soft microrobots controlled by light fields In International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2018, pages: 6199-6206, International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems 2018, October 2018 (inproceedings)

arXiv IEEE Xplore DOI Project Page [BibTex]

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.

am Anderson, M., Anderson, S., Berenz, V. A Value-Driven Eldercare Robot: Virtual and Physical Instantiations of a Case-Supported Principle-Based Behavior Paradigm Proceedings of the IEEE, pages: 1,15, October 2018 (article)

playful website playful_IEEE_RAM link (url) DOI [BibTex]

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.

am Berenz, V., Schaal, S. Playful: Reactive Programming for Orchestrating Robotic Behavior IEEE Robotics Automation Magazine, 25(3):49-60, September 2018 (article) In press

playful website playful_IEEE_RAM link (url) DOI [BibTex]

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.

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

Leveraging Contact Forces for Learning to Grasp

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

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

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.

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video arXiv [BibTex]

am mg Merzic, H., Bogdanovic, M., Kappler, D., Righetti, L., Bohg, J. Leveraging Contact Forces for Learning to Grasp arXiv, September 2018, Submitted to ICRA'19 (article) Submitted

video arXiv [BibTex]

Learning-Based Robust Model Predictive Control with State-Dependent Uncertainty

Soloperto, R., Müller, M. A., Trimpe, S., Allgöwer, F.

In Proceedings of the IFAC Conference on Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC), Madison, Wisconsin, USA, 6th IFAC Conference on Nonlinear Model Predictive Control, August 2018 (inproceedings)

ics

PDF [BibTex]

ics Soloperto, R., Müller, M. A., Trimpe, S., Allgöwer, F. Learning-Based Robust Model Predictive Control with State-Dependent Uncertainty In Proceedings of the IFAC Conference on Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC), Madison, Wisconsin, USA, 6th IFAC Conference on Nonlinear Model Predictive Control, August 2018 (inproceedings)

PDF [BibTex]

Learning an Approximate Model Predictive Controller with Guarantees

Hertneck, M., Koehler, J., Trimpe, S., Allgöwer, F.

IEEE Control Systems Letters, 2(3):543-548, July 2018 (article)

Abstract

A supervised learning framework is proposed to approximate a model predictive controller (MPC) with reduced computational complexity and guarantees on stability and constraint satisfaction. The framework can be used for a wide class of nonlinear systems. Any standard supervised learning technique (e.g. neural networks) can be employed to approximate the MPC from samples. In order to obtain closed-loop guarantees for the learned MPC, a robust MPC design is combined with statistical learning bounds. The MPC design ensures robustness to inaccurate inputs within given bounds, and Hoeffding’s Inequality is used to validate that the learned MPC satisfies these bounds with high confidence. The result is a closed-loop statistical guarantee on stability and constraint satisfaction for the learned MPC. The proposed learning-based MPC framework is illustrated on a nonlinear benchmark problem, for which we learn a neural network controller with guarantees.

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ics Hertneck, M., Koehler, J., Trimpe, S., Allgöwer, F. Learning an Approximate Model Predictive Controller with Guarantees IEEE Control Systems Letters, 2(3):543-548, July 2018 (article)

pdf video Project Page Project Page [BibTex]

Robust Physics-based Motion Retargeting with Realistic Body Shapes

Borno, M. A., Righetti, L., Black, M. J., Delp, S. L., Fiume, E., Romero, J.

Computer Graphics Forum, 37, pages: 6:1-12, July 2018 (article)

Abstract

Motion capture is often retargeted to new, and sometimes drastically different, characters. When the characters take on realistic human shapes, however, we become more sensitive to the motion looking right. This means adapting it to be consistent with the physical constraints imposed by different body shapes. We show how to take realistic 3D human shapes, approximate them using a simplified representation, and animate them so that they move realistically using physically-based retargeting. We develop a novel spacetime optimization approach that learns and robustly adapts physical controllers to new bodies and constraints. The approach automatically adapts the motion of the mocap subject to the body shape of a target subject. This motion respects the physical properties of the new body and every body shape results in a different and appropriate movement. This makes it easy to create a varied set of motions from a single mocap sequence by simply varying the characters. In an interactive environment, successful retargeting requires adapting the motion to unexpected external forces. We achieve robustness to such forces using a novel LQR-tree formulation. We show that the simulated motions look appropriate to each character’s anatomy and their actions are robust to perturbations.

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mg ps Borno, M. A., Righetti, L., Black, M. J., Delp, S. L., Fiume, E., Romero, J. Robust Physics-based Motion Retargeting with Realistic Body Shapes Computer Graphics Forum, 37, pages: 6:1-12, July 2018 (article)

pdf video Project Page Project Page [BibTex]

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.

am ics

arXiv pdf Project Page [BibTex]

am ics 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

(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]

am Kappler, D., Meier, F., Issac, J., Mainprice, J., Garcia Cifuentes, C., Wüthrich, M., Berenz, V., Schaal, S., Ratliff, N., Bohg, J. Real-time Perception meets Reactive Motion Generation IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 3(3):1864-1871, July 2018 (article)

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

Event-triggered Learning for Resource-efficient Networked Control

Solowjow, F., Baumann, D., Garcke, J., Trimpe, S.

In Proceedings of the American Control Conference (ACC), pages: 6506 - 6512, American Control Conference, June 2018 (inproceedings)

ics

ics Solowjow, F., Baumann, D., Garcke, J., Trimpe, S. Event-triggered Learning for Resource-efficient Networked Control In Proceedings of the American Control Conference (ACC), pages: 6506 - 6512, American Control Conference, June 2018 (inproceedings)

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]

am 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

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]

am 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]

Nonlinear decoding of a complex movie from the mammalian retina

Botella-Soler, V., Deny, S., Martius, G., Marre, O., Tkačik, G.

PLOS Computational Biology, 14(5):1-27, Public Library of Science, May 2018 (article)

Abstract

Author summary Neurons in the retina transform patterns of incoming light into sequences of neural spikes. We recorded from ∼100 neurons in the rat retina while it was stimulated with a complex movie. Using machine learning regression methods, we fit decoders to reconstruct the movie shown from the retinal output. We demonstrated that retinal code can only be read out with a low error if decoders make use of correlations between successive spikes emitted by individual neurons. These correlations can be used to ignore spontaneous spiking that would, otherwise, cause even the best linear decoders to “hallucinate” nonexistent stimuli. This work represents the first high resolution single-trial full movie reconstruction and suggests a new paradigm for separating spontaneous from stimulus-driven neural activity.

DOI [BibTex]

al Botella-Soler, V., Deny, S., Martius, G., Marre, O., Tkačik, G. Nonlinear decoding of a complex movie from the mammalian retina PLOS Computational Biology, 14(5):1-27, Public Library of Science, May 2018 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

Poster Abstract: Toward Fast Closed-loop Control over Multi-hop Low-power Wireless Networks

Mager, F., Baumann, D., Trimpe, S., Zimmerling, M.

Proceedings of the 17th ACM/IEEE Conference on Information Processing in Sensor Networks (IPSN), pages: 158-159, Porto, Portugal, April 2018 (poster)

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ics Mager, F., Baumann, D., Trimpe, S., Zimmerling, M. Poster Abstract: Toward Fast Closed-loop Control over Multi-hop Low-power Wireless Networks Proceedings of the 17th ACM/IEEE Conference on Information Processing in Sensor Networks (IPSN), pages: 158-159, Porto, Portugal, April 2018 (poster)

Evaluating Low-Power Wireless Cyber-Physical Systems

Baumann, D., Mager, F., Singh, H., Zimmerling, M., Trimpe, S.

In Proceedings of the IEEE Workshop on Benchmarking Cyber-Physical Networks and Systems (CPSBench), pages: 13-18, IEEE Workshop on Benchmarking Cyber-Physical Networks and Systems (CPSBench), April 2018 (inproceedings)

ics

ics Baumann, D., Mager, F., Singh, H., Zimmerling, M., Trimpe, S. Evaluating Low-Power Wireless Cyber-Physical Systems In Proceedings of the IEEE Workshop on Benchmarking Cyber-Physical Networks and Systems (CPSBench), pages: 13-18, IEEE Workshop on Benchmarking Cyber-Physical Networks and Systems (CPSBench), April 2018 (inproceedings)

arXiv (extended version) DOI Project Page [BibTex]

Distributed Event-Based State Estimation for Networked Systems: An LMI Approach

Muehlebach, M., Trimpe, S.

IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 63(1):269-276, January 2018 (article)

am ics

am ics Muehlebach, M., Trimpe, S. Distributed Event-Based State Estimation for Networked Systems: An LMI Approach IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 63(1):269-276, January 2018 (article)

arXiv (extended version) DOI Project Page [BibTex]

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.

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am mg 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)

Github link (url) Project Page [BibTex]

Combining learned and analytical models for predicting action effects

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

arXiv, 2018 (article) Submitted

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) [BibTex]

am Kloss, A., Schaal, S., Bohg, J. Combining learned and analytical models for predicting action effects arXiv, 2018 (article) Submitted

arXiv pdf link (url) [BibTex]

L4: Practical loss-based stepsize adaptation for deep learning

Rolinek, M., Martius, G.

In Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 31 (NeurIPS 2018), pages: 6434-6444, (Editors: S. Bengio and H. Wallach and H. Larochelle and K. Grauman and N. Cesa-Bianchi and R. Garnett), Curran Associates, Inc., 2018 (inproceedings)

al Rolinek, M., Martius, G. L4: Practical loss-based stepsize adaptation for deep learning In Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 31 (NeurIPS 2018), pages: 6434-6444, (Editors: S. Bengio and H. Wallach and H. Larochelle and K. Grauman and N. Cesa-Bianchi and R. Garnett), Curran Associates, Inc., 2018 (inproceedings)

Github link (url) Project Page [BibTex]

Systematic self-exploration of behaviors for robots in a dynamical systems framework

Pinneri, C., Martius, G.

In Proc. Artificial Life XI, pages: 319-326, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2018 (inproceedings)

Abstract

One of the challenges of this century is to understand the neural mechanisms behind cognitive control and learning. Recent investigations propose biologically plausible synaptic mechanisms for self-organizing controllers, in the spirit of Hebbian learning. In particular, differential extrinsic plasticity (DEP) [Der and Martius, PNAS 2015], has proven to enable embodied agents to self-organize their individual sensorimotor development, and generate highly coordinated behaviors during their interaction with the environment. These behaviors are attractors of a dynamical system. In this paper, we use the DEP rule to generate attractors and we combine it with a “repelling potential” which allows the system to actively explore all its attractor behaviors in a systematic way. With a view to a self-determined exploration of goal-free behaviors, our framework enables switching between different motion patterns in an autonomous and sequential fashion. Our algorithm is able to recover all the attractor behaviors in a toy system and it is also effective in two simulated environments. A spherical robot discovers all its major rolling modes and a hexapod robot learns to locomote in 50 different ways in 30min.

al Pinneri, C., Martius, G. Systematic self-exploration of behaviors for robots in a dynamical systems framework In Proc. Artificial Life XI, pages: 319-326, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2018 (inproceedings)

Learning equations for extrapolation and control

Sahoo, S. S., Lampert, C. H., Martius, G.

In Proc. 35th International Conference on Machine Learning, ICML 2018, Stockholm, Sweden, 2018, 80, pages: 4442-4450, http://proceedings.mlr.press/v80/sahoo18a/sahoo18a.pdf, (Editors: Dy, Jennifer and Krause, Andreas), PMLR, 2018 (inproceedings)

Abstract

We present an approach to identify concise equations from data using a shallow neural network approach. In contrast to ordinary black-box regression, this approach allows understanding functional relations and generalizing them from observed data to unseen parts of the parameter space. We show how to extend the class of learnable equations for a recently proposed equation learning network to include divisions, and we improve the learning and model selection strategy to be useful for challenging real-world data. For systems governed by analytical expressions, our method can in many cases identify the true underlying equation and extrapolate to unseen domains. We demonstrate its effectiveness by experiments on a cart-pendulum system, where only 2 random rollouts are required to learn the forward dynamics and successfully achieve the swing-up task.

Code Arxiv Poster Slides link (url) Project Page [BibTex]

al Sahoo, S. S., Lampert, C. H., Martius, G. Learning equations for extrapolation and control In Proc. 35th International Conference on Machine Learning, ICML 2018, Stockholm, Sweden, 2018, 80, pages: 4442-4450, http://proceedings.mlr.press/v80/sahoo18a/sahoo18a.pdf, (Editors: Dy, Jennifer and Krause, Andreas), PMLR, 2018 (inproceedings)

Code Arxiv Poster Slides link (url) Project Page [BibTex]

Robust Affordable 3D Haptic Sensation via Learning Deformation Patterns

Sun, H., Martius, G.

Proceedings International Conference on Humanoid Robots, pages: 846-853, IEEE, New York, NY, USA, 2018 IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots, 2018, Oral Presentation (conference)

Abstract

Haptic sensation is an important modality for interacting with the real world. This paper proposes a general framework of inferring haptic forces on the surface of a 3D structure from internal deformations using a small number of physical sensors instead of employing dense sensor arrays. Using machine learning techniques, we optimize the sensor number and their placement and are able to obtain high-precision force inference for a robotic limb using as few as 9 sensors. For the optimal and sparse placement of the measurement units (strain gauges), we employ data-driven methods based on data obtained by finite element simulation. We compare data-driven approaches with model-based methods relying on geometric distance and information criteria such as Entropy and Mutual Information. We validate our approach on a modified limb of the “Poppy” robot [1] and obtain 8 mm localization precision.

al Sun, H., Martius, G. Robust Affordable 3D Haptic Sensation via Learning Deformation Patterns Proceedings International Conference on Humanoid Robots, pages: 846-853, IEEE, New York, NY, USA, 2018 IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots, 2018, Oral Presentation (conference)

Learning a Structured Neural Network Policy for a Hopping Task.

Viereck, J., Kozolinsky, J., Herzog, A., Righetti, L.

IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 3(4):4092-4099, October 2018 (article)

mg Viereck, J., Kozolinsky, J., Herzog, A., Righetti, L. Learning a Structured Neural Network Policy for a Hopping Task. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 3(4):4092-4099, October 2018 (article)

The Impact of Robotics and Automation on Working Conditions and Employment [Ethical, Legal, and Societal Issues]

Pham, Q., Madhavan, R., Righetti, L., Smart, W., Chatila, R.

IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, 25(2):126-128, June 2018 (article)

mg Pham, Q., Madhavan, R., Righetti, L., Smart, W., Chatila, R. The Impact of Robotics and Automation on Working Conditions and Employment [Ethical, Legal, and Societal Issues] IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, 25(2):126-128, June 2018 (article)

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.

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am mg 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)

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.

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am mg 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)

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.

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am mg 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)

Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems [Ethical, Legal, and Societal Issues]

Righetti, L., Pham, Q., Madhavan, R., Chatila, R.

IEEE Robotics \& Automation Magazine, 25(1):123-126, March 2018 (article)

Abstract

The topic of lethal autonomous weapon systems has recently caught public attention due to extensive news coverage and apocalyptic declarations from famous scientists and technologists. Weapon systems with increasing autonomy are being developed due to fast improvements in machine learning, robotics, and automation in general. These developments raise important and complex security, legal, ethical, societal, and technological issues that are being extensively discussed by scholars, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), militaries, governments, and the international community. Unfortunately, the robotics community has stayed out of the debate, for the most part, despite being the main provider of autonomous technologies. In this column, we review the main issues raised by the increase of autonomy in weapon systems and the state of the international discussion. We argue that the robotics community has a fundamental role to play in these discussions, for its own sake, to provide the often-missing technical expertise necessary to frame the debate and promote technological development in line with the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) objective of advancing technology to benefit humanity.

mg Righetti, L., Pham, Q., Madhavan, R., Chatila, R. Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems [Ethical, Legal, and Societal Issues] IEEE Robotics \& Automation Magazine, 25(1):123-126, March 2018 (article)

2016

A New Perspective and Extension of the Gaussian Filter

Wüthrich, M., Trimpe, S., Garcia Cifuentes, C., Kappler, D., Schaal, S.

The International Journal of Robotics Research, 35(14):1731-1749, December 2016 (article)

Abstract

The Gaussian Filter (GF) is one of the most widely used filtering algorithms; instances are the Extended Kalman Filter, the Unscented Kalman Filter and the Divided Difference Filter. The GF represents the belief of the current state by a Gaussian distribution, whose mean is an affine function of the measurement. We show that this representation can be too restrictive to accurately capture the dependences in systems with nonlinear observation models, and we investigate how the GF can be generalized to alleviate this problem. To this end, we view the GF as the solution to a constrained optimization problem. From this new perspective, the GF is seen as a special case of a much broader class of filters, obtained by relaxing the constraint on the form of the approximate posterior. On this basis, we outline some conditions which potential generalizations have to satisfy in order to maintain the computational efficiency of the GF. We propose one concrete generalization which corresponds to the standard GF using a pseudo measurement instead of the actual measurement. Extending an existing GF implementation in this manner is trivial. Nevertheless, we show that this small change can have a major impact on the estimation accuracy.

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PDF DOI Project Page [BibTex]

2016

am ics Wüthrich, M., Trimpe, S., Garcia Cifuentes, C., Kappler, D., Schaal, S. A New Perspective and Extension of the Gaussian Filter The International Journal of Robotics Research, 35(14):1731-1749, December 2016 (article)

PDF DOI Project Page [BibTex]

Predictive and Self Triggering for Event-based State Estimation

Trimpe, S.

In Proceedings of the 55th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), pages: 3098-3105, Las Vegas, NV, USA, December 2016 (inproceedings)

am ics

am ics Trimpe, S. Predictive and Self Triggering for Event-based State Estimation In Proceedings of the 55th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), pages: 3098-3105, Las Vegas, NV, USA, December 2016 (inproceedings)

Using Probabilistic Movement Primitives for Striking Movements

Gomez-Gonzalez, S., Neumann, G., Schölkopf, B., Peters, J.

16th IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids), pages: 502-508, November 2016 (conference)

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am ei Gomez-Gonzalez, S., Neumann, G., Schölkopf, B., Peters, J. Using Probabilistic Movement Primitives for Striking Movements 16th IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids), pages: 502-508, November 2016 (conference)

final link (url) DOI Project Page [BibTex]

Jointly Learning Trajectory Generation and Hitting Point Prediction in Robot Table Tennis

Huang, Y., Büchler, D., Koc, O., Schölkopf, B., Peters, J.

16th IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids), pages: 650-655, November 2016 (conference)

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am ei Huang, Y., Büchler, D., Koc, O., Schölkopf, B., Peters, J. Jointly Learning Trajectory Generation and Hitting Point Prediction in Robot Table Tennis 16th IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids), pages: 650-655, November 2016 (conference)

final link (url) DOI Project Page [BibTex]

The Role of Measurement Uncertainty in Optimal Control for Contact Interactions

Workshop on the Algorithmic Foundations of Robotics, pages: 22, November 2016 (conference)

Abstract

Stochastic Optimal Control (SOC) typically considers noise only in the process model, i.e. unknown disturbances. However, in many robotic applications that involve interaction with the environment, such as locomotion and manipulation, uncertainty also comes from lack of pre- cise knowledge of the world, which is not an actual disturbance. We de- velop a computationally efficient SOC algorithm, based on risk-sensitive control, that takes into account uncertainty in the measurements. We include the dynamics of an observer in such a way that the control law explicitly depends on the current measurement uncertainty. We show that high measurement uncertainty leads to low impedance behaviors, a result in contrast with the effects of process noise variance that creates stiff behaviors. Simulation results on a simple 2D manipulator show that our controller can create better interaction with the environment under uncertain contact locations than traditional SOC approaches.

arXiv [BibTex]

am The Role of Measurement Uncertainty in Optimal Control for Contact Interactions Workshop on the Algorithmic Foundations of Robotics, pages: 22, November 2016 (conference)

arXiv [BibTex]

Learning Where to Search Using Visual Attention

Kloss, A., Kappler, D., Lensch, H. P. A., Butz, M. V., Schaal, S., Bohg, J.

Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IEEE, IROS, October 2016 (conference)

Abstract

One of the central tasks for a household robot is searching for specific objects. It does not only require localizing the target object but also identifying promising search locations in the scene if the target is not immediately visible. As computation time and hardware resources are usually limited in robotics, it is desirable to avoid expensive visual processing steps that are exhaustively applied over the entire image. The human visual system can quickly select those image locations that have to be processed in detail for a given task. This allows us to cope with huge amounts of information and to efficiently deploy the limited capacities of our visual system. In this paper, we therefore propose to use human fixation data to train a top-down saliency model that predicts relevant image locations when searching for specific objects. We show that the learned model can successfully prune bounding box proposals without rejecting the ground truth object locations. In this aspect, the proposed model outperforms a model that is trained only on the ground truth segmentations of the target object instead of fixation data.

Project Page [BibTex]

am Kloss, A., Kappler, D., Lensch, H. P. A., Butz, M. V., Schaal, S., Bohg, J. Learning Where to Search Using Visual Attention Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IEEE, IROS, October 2016 (conference)

PDF Project Page [BibTex]

Parameter Learning for Improving Binary Descriptor Matching

Sankaran, B., Ramalingam, S., Taguchi, Y.

In International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2016, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, October 2016 (inproceedings)

Abstract

Binary descriptors allow fast detection and matching algorithms in computer vision problems. Though binary descriptors can be computed at almost two orders of magnitude faster than traditional gradient based descriptors, they suffer from poor matching accuracy in challenging conditions. In this paper we propose three improvements for binary descriptors in their computation and matching that enhance their performance in comparison to traditional binary and non-binary descriptors without compromising their speed. This is achieved by learning some weights and threshold parameters that allow customized matching under some variations such as lighting and viewpoint. Our suggested improvements can be easily applied to any binary descriptor. We demonstrate our approach on the ORB (Oriented FAST and Rotated BRIEF) descriptor and compare its performance with the traditional ORB and SIFT descriptors on a wide variety of datasets. In all instances, our enhancements outperform standard ORB and is comparable to SIFT.

am Sankaran, B., Ramalingam, S., Taguchi, Y. Parameter Learning for Improving Binary Descriptor Matching In International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2016, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, October 2016 (inproceedings)

A New Trajectory Generation Framework in Robotic Table Tennis

Koc, O., Maeda, G., Peters, J.

Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), pages: 3750-3756, October 2016 (conference)

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am ei Koc, O., Maeda, G., Peters, J. A New Trajectory Generation Framework in Robotic Table Tennis Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), pages: 3750-3756, October 2016 (conference)

pdf supplementary poster Project Page Project Page [BibTex]

Superpixel Convolutional Networks using Bilateral Inceptions

Gadde, R., Jampani, V., Kiefel, M., Kappler, D., Gehler, P.

In European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV), Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer, 14th European Conference on Computer Vision, October 2016 (inproceedings)

Abstract

In this paper we propose a CNN architecture for semantic image segmentation. We introduce a new “bilateral inception” module that can be inserted in existing CNN architectures and performs bilateral filtering, at multiple feature-scales, between superpixels in an image. The feature spaces for bilateral filtering and other parameters of the module are learned end-to-end using standard backpropagation techniques. The bilateral inception module addresses two issues that arise with general CNN segmentation architectures. First, this module propagates information between (super) pixels while respecting image edges, thus using the structured information of the problem for improved results. Second, the layer recovers a full resolution segmentation result from the lower resolution solution of a CNN. In the experiments, we modify several existing CNN architectures by inserting our inception modules between the last CNN (1 × 1 convolution) layers. Empirical results on three different datasets show reliable improvements not only in comparison to the baseline networks, but also in comparison to several dense-pixel prediction techniques such as CRFs, while being competitive in time.

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am ps Gadde, R., Jampani, V., Kiefel, M., Kappler, D., Gehler, P. Superpixel Convolutional Networks using Bilateral Inceptions In European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV), Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer, 14th European Conference on Computer Vision, October 2016 (inproceedings)

pdf supplementary poster Project Page Project Page [BibTex]

Barrista - Caffe Well-Served

Lassner, C., Kappler, D., Kiefel, M., Gehler, P.

In ACM Multimedia Open Source Software Competition, ACM OSSC16, October 2016 (inproceedings)

Abstract

The caffe framework is one of the leading deep learning toolboxes in the machine learning and computer vision community. While it offers efficiency and configurability, it falls short of a full interface to Python. With increasingly involved procedures for training deep networks and reaching depths of hundreds of layers, creating configuration files and keeping them consistent becomes an error prone process. We introduce the barrista framework, offering full, pythonic control over caffe. It separates responsibilities and offers code to solve frequently occurring tasks for pre-processing, training and model inspection. It is compatible to all caffe versions since mid 2015 and can import and export .prototxt files. Examples are included, e.g., a deep residual network implemented in only 172 lines (for arbitrary depths), comparing to 2320 lines in the official implementation for the equivalent model.

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pdf link (url) DOI Project Page [BibTex]

am ps Lassner, C., Kappler, D., Kiefel, M., Gehler, P. Barrista - Caffe Well-Served In ACM Multimedia Open Source Software Competition, ACM OSSC16, October 2016 (inproceedings)

pdf link (url) DOI Project Page [BibTex]

Interlocking Perception-Action Loops at Multiple Time Scales - A System Proposal for Manipulation in Uncertain and Dynamic Environments

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

In International Workshop on Robotics in the 21st century: Challenges and Promises, September 2016 (inproceedings)

Workshop Webpage Extended Abstract Project Page [BibTex]

am Bohg, J., Kappler, D., Meier, F., Ratliff, N., Mainprice, J., Issac, J., Wüthrich, M., Garcia Cifuentes, C., Berenz, V., Schaal, S. Interlocking Perception-Action Loops at Multiple Time Scales - A System Proposal for Manipulation in Uncertain and Dynamic Environments In International Workshop on Robotics in the 21st century: Challenges and Promises, September 2016 (inproceedings)

Workshop Webpage Extended Abstract Project Page [BibTex]

DOOMED: Direct Online Optimization of Modeling Errors in Dynamics

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

arXiv preprint arXiv:1608.00309, August 2016 (article)

am Ratliff, N., Meier, F., Kappler, D., Schaal, S. DOOMED: Direct Online Optimization of Modeling Errors in Dynamics arXiv preprint arXiv:1608.00309, August 2016 (article)

Web link (url) DOI Project Page [BibTex]

Robust Gaussian Filtering using a Pseudo Measurement

Wüthrich, M., Garcia Cifuentes, C., Trimpe, S., Meier, F., Bohg, J., Issac, J., Schaal, S.

In Proceedings of the American Control Conference (ACC), Boston, MA, USA, July 2016 (inproceedings)

Abstract

Most widely-used state estimation algorithms, such as the Extended Kalman Filter and the Unscented Kalman Filter, belong to the family of Gaussian Filters (GF). Unfortunately, GFs fail if the measurement process is modelled by a fat-tailed distribution. This is a severe limitation, because thin-tailed measurement models, such as the analytically-convenient and therefore widely-used Gaussian distribution, are sensitive to outliers. In this paper, we show that mapping the measurements into a specific feature space enables any existing GF algorithm to work with fat-tailed measurement models. We find a feature function which is optimal under certain conditions. Simulation results show that the proposed method allows for robust filtering in both linear and nonlinear systems with measurements contaminated by fat-tailed noise.

am ics

am ics Wüthrich, M., Garcia Cifuentes, C., Trimpe, S., Meier, F., Bohg, J., Issac, J., Schaal, S. Robust Gaussian Filtering using a Pseudo Measurement In Proceedings of the American Control Conference (ACC), Boston, MA, USA, July 2016 (inproceedings)

Web link (url) DOI Project Page [BibTex]

Robot Arm Pose Estimation by Pixel-wise Regression of Joint Angles

Widmaier, F., Kappler, D., Schaal, S., Bohg, J.

In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2016, IEEE, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 2016 (inproceedings)

Abstract

To achieve accurate vision-based control with a robotic arm, a good hand-eye coordination is required. However, knowing the current configuration of the arm can be very difficult due to noisy readings from joint encoders or an inaccurate hand-eye calibration. We propose an approach for robot arm pose estimation that uses depth images of the arm as input to directly estimate angular joint positions. This is a frame-by-frame method which does not rely on good initialisation of the solution from the previous frames or knowledge from the joint encoders. For estimation, we employ a random regression forest which is trained on synthetically generated data. We compare different training objectives of the forest and also analyse the influence of prior segmentation of the arms on accuracy. We show that this approach improves previous work both in terms of computational complexity and accuracy. Despite being trained on synthetic data only, we demonstrate that the estimation also works on real depth images.

am Widmaier, F., Kappler, D., Schaal, S., Bohg, J. Robot Arm Pose Estimation by Pixel-wise Regression of Joint Angles In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2016, IEEE, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 2016 (inproceedings)

Optimizing for what matters: the Top Grasp Hypothesis

Kappler, D., Schaal, S., Bohg, J.

In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2016, IEEE, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 2016 (inproceedings)

Abstract

In this paper, we consider the problem of robotic grasping of objects when only partial and noisy sensor data of the environment is available. We are specifically interested in the problem of reliably selecting the best hypothesis from a whole set. This is commonly the case when trying to grasp an object for which we can only observe a partial point cloud from one viewpoint through noisy sensors. There will be many possible ways to successfully grasp this object, and even more which will fail. We propose a supervised learning method that is trained with a ranking loss. This explicitly encourages that the top-ranked training grasp in a hypothesis set is also positively labeled. We show how we adapt the standard ranking loss to work with data that has binary labels and explain the benefits of this formulation. Additionally, we show how we can efficiently optimize this loss with stochastic gradient descent. In quantitative experiments, we show that we can outperform previous models by a large margin.

am Kappler, D., Schaal, S., Bohg, J. Optimizing for what matters: the Top Grasp Hypothesis In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2016, IEEE, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 2016 (inproceedings)

Exemplar-based Prediction of Object Properties from Local Shape Similarity

Bohg, J., Kappler, D., Schaal, S.

In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2016, IEEE, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 2016 (inproceedings)

Abstract

We propose a novel method that enables a robot to identify a graspable object part of an unknown object given only noisy and partial information that is obtained from an RGB-D camera. Our method combines the benefits of local with the advantages of global methods. It learns a classifier that takes a local shape representation as input and outputs the probability that a grasp applied at this location will be successful. Given a query data point that is classified in this way, we can retrieve all the locally similar training data points and use them to predict latent global object shape. This information may help to further prune positively labeled grasp hypotheses based on, e.g. relation to the predicted average global shape or suitability for a specific task. This prediction can also guide scene exploration to prune object shape hypotheses. To learn the function that maps local shape to grasp stability we use a Random Forest Classifier. We show that our method reaches the same classification performance as the current state-of-the-art on this dataset which uses a Convolutional Neural Network. Additionally, we exploit the natural ability of the Random Forest to cluster similar data. For a positively predicted query data point, we retrieve all the locally similar training data points that are associated with the same leaf nodes of the Random Forest. The main insight from this work is that local object shape that affords a grasp is also a good predictor of global object shape. We empirically support this claim with quantitative experiments. Additionally, we demonstrate the predictive capability of the method on some real data examples.

am Bohg, J., Kappler, D., Schaal, S. Exemplar-based Prediction of Object Properties from Local Shape Similarity In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2016, IEEE, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 2016 (inproceedings)