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276 results (View BibTeX file of all listed publications)

2024

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Language Models Can Reduce Asymmetry in Information Markets

Rahaman, N., Weiss, M., Wüthrich, M., Bengio, Y., Li, E., Pal, C., Schölkopf, B.

arXiv:2403.14443, March 2024, Published as: Redesigning Information Markets in the Era of Language Models, Conference on Language Modeling (COLM) (techreport)

Abstract
This work addresses the buyer's inspection paradox for information markets. The paradox is that buyers need to access information to determine its value, while sellers need to limit access to prevent theft. To study this, we introduce an open-source simulated digital marketplace where intelligent agents, powered by language models, buy and sell information on behalf of external participants. The central mechanism enabling this marketplace is the agents' dual capabilities: they not only have the capacity to assess the quality of privileged information but also come equipped with the ability to forget. This ability to induce amnesia allows vendors to grant temporary access to proprietary information, significantly reducing the risk of unauthorized retention while enabling agents to accurately gauge the information's relevance to specific queries or tasks. To perform well, agents must make rational decisions, strategically explore the marketplace through generated sub-queries, and synthesize answers from purchased information. Concretely, our experiments (a) uncover biases in language models leading to irrational behavior and evaluate techniques to mitigate these biases, (b) investigate how price affects demand in the context of informational goods, and (c) show that inspection and higher budgets both lead to higher quality outcomes.

ei

link (url) [BibTex]

2024

ei Rahaman, N., Weiss, M., Wüthrich, M., Bengio, Y., Li, E., Pal, C., Schölkopf, B. Language Models Can Reduce Asymmetry in Information Markets arXiv:2403.14443, March 2024, Published as: Redesigning Information Markets in the Era of Language Models, Conference on Language Modeling (COLM) (techreport)

link (url) [BibTex]

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Learning a Terrain- and Robot-Aware Dynamics Model for Autonomous Mobile Robot Navigation

Achterhold, J., Guttikonda, S., Kreber, J. U., Li, H., Stueckler, J.

CoRR abs/2409.11452, 2024, Preprint submitted to Robotics and Autonomous Systems Journal. https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.11452 (techreport) Submitted

Abstract
Mobile robots should be capable of planning cost-efficient paths for autonomous navigation. Typically, the terrain and robot properties are subject to variations. For instance, properties of the terrain such as friction may vary across different locations. Also, properties of the robot may change such as payloads or wear and tear, e.g., causing changing actuator gains or joint friction. Autonomous navigation approaches should thus be able to adapt to such variations. In this article, we propose a novel approach for learning a probabilistic, terrain- and robot-aware forward dynamics model (TRADYN) which can adapt to such variations and demonstrate its use for navigation. Our learning approach extends recent advances in meta-learning forward dynamics models based on Neural Processes for mobile robot navigation. We evaluate our method in simulation for 2D navigation of a robot with uni-cycle dynamics with varying properties on terrain with spatially varying friction coefficients. In our experiments, we demonstrate that TRADYN has lower prediction error over long time horizons than model ablations which do not adapt to robot or terrain variations. We also evaluate our model for navigation planning in a model-predictive control framework and under various sources of noise. We demonstrate that our approach yields improved performance in planning control-efficient paths by taking robot and terrain properties into account.

ev

preprint [BibTex]

ev Achterhold, J., Guttikonda, S., Kreber, J. U., Li, H., Stueckler, J. Learning a Terrain- and Robot-Aware Dynamics Model for Autonomous Mobile Robot Navigation CoRR abs/2409.11452, 2024, Preprint submitted to Robotics and Autonomous Systems Journal. https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.11452 (techreport) Submitted

preprint [BibTex]

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A Pontryagin Perspective on Reinforcement Learning

Eberhard, O., Vernade, C., Muehlebach, M.

Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, 2024 (techreport)

lds

link (url) [BibTex]

lds Eberhard, O., Vernade, C., Muehlebach, M. A Pontryagin Perspective on Reinforcement Learning Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, 2024 (techreport)

link (url) [BibTex]

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Distributed Event-Based Learning via ADMM

Er, D., Trimpe, S., Muehlebach, M.

Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, 2024 (techreport)

lds

link (url) [BibTex]

lds Er, D., Trimpe, S., Muehlebach, M. Distributed Event-Based Learning via ADMM Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, 2024 (techreport)

link (url) [BibTex]

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Incremental Few-Shot Adaptation for Non-Prehensile Object Manipulation using Parallelizable Physics Simulators

Baumeister, F., Mack, L., Stueckler, J.

CoRR abs/2409.13228, CoRR, 2024, Submitted to IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2025 (techreport) Submitted

Abstract
Few-shot adaptation is an important capability for intelligent robots that perform tasks in open-world settings such as everyday environments or flexible production. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for non-prehensile manipulation which iteratively adapts a physics-based dynamics model for model-predictive control. We adapt the parameters of the model incrementally with a few examples of robot-object interactions. This is achieved by sampling-based optimization of the parameters using a parallelizable rigid-body physics simulation as dynamic world model. In turn, the optimized dynamics model can be used for model-predictive control using efficient sampling-based optimization. We evaluate our few-shot adaptation approach in several object pushing experiments in simulation and with a real robot.

ev

preprint supplemental video link (url) [BibTex]

ev Baumeister, F., Mack, L., Stueckler, J. Incremental Few-Shot Adaptation for Non-Prehensile Object Manipulation using Parallelizable Physics Simulators CoRR abs/2409.13228, CoRR, 2024, Submitted to IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2025 (techreport) Submitted

preprint supplemental video link (url) [BibTex]

2023

Fairness in Machine Learning: Limitations and Opportunities
Fairness in Machine Learning: Limitations and Opportunities

Barocas, S., Hardt, M., Narayanan, A.

MIT Press, December 2023 (book)

Abstract
An introduction to the intellectual foundations and practical utility of the recent work on fairness and machine learning. Fairness and Machine Learning introduces advanced undergraduate and graduate students to the intellectual foundations of this recently emergent field, drawing on a diverse range of disciplinary perspectives to identify the opportunities and hazards of automated decision-making. It surveys the risks in many applications of machine learning and provides a review of an emerging set of proposed solutions, showing how even well-intentioned applications may give rise to objectionable results. It covers the statistical and causal measures used to evaluate the fairness of machine learning models as well as the procedural and substantive aspects of decision-making that are core to debates about fairness, including a review of legal and philosophical perspectives on discrimination. This incisive textbook prepares students of machine learning to do quantitative work on fairness while reflecting critically on its foundations and its practical utility.• Introduces the technical and normative foundations of fairness in automated decision-making• Covers the formal and computational methods for characterizing and addressing problems• Provides a critical assessment of their intellectual foundations and practical utility• Features rich pedagogy and extensive instructor resources

sf

link (url) [BibTex]

2023

sf Barocas, S., Hardt, M., Narayanan, A. Fairness in Machine Learning: Limitations and Opportunities MIT Press, December 2023 (book)

link (url) [BibTex]

Synchronizing Machine Learning Algorithms, Realtime Robotic Control and Simulated Environment with o80
Synchronizing Machine Learning Algorithms, Realtime Robotic Control and Simulated Environment with o80

Berenz, V., Widmaier, F., Guist, S., Schölkopf, B., Büchler, D.

Robot Software Architectures Workshop (RSA) 2023, ICRA, 2023 (techreport)

Abstract
Robotic applications require the integration of various modalities, encompassing perception, control of real robots and possibly the control of simulated environments. While the state-of-the-art robotic software solutions such as ROS 2 provide most of the required features, flexible synchronization between algorithms, data streams and control loops can be tedious. o80 is a versatile C++ framework for robotics which provides a shared memory model and a command framework for real-time critical systems. It enables expert users to set up complex robotic systems and generate Python bindings for scientists. o80's unique feature is its flexible synchronization between processes, including the traditional blocking commands and the novel ``bursting mode'', which allows user code to control the execution of the lower process control loop. This makes it particularly useful for setups that mix real and simulated environments.

ei

arxiv poster link (url) [BibTex]

2022

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Patterns, Predictions, and Actions: Foundations of Machine Learning

Hardt, M., Recht, B.

Princeton University Press, August 2022 (book)

Abstract
An authoritative, up-to-date graduate textbook on machine learning that highlights its historical context and societal impacts Patterns, Predictions, and Actions introduces graduate students to the essentials of machine learning while offering invaluable perspective on its history and social implications. Beginning with the foundations of decision making, Moritz Hardt and Benjamin Recht explain how representation, optimization, and generalization are the constituents of supervised learning. They go on to provide self-contained discussions of causality, the practice of causal inference, sequential decision making, and reinforcement learning, equipping readers with the concepts and tools they need to assess the consequences that may arise from acting on statistical decisions. Provides a modern introduction to machine learning, showing how data patterns support predictions and consequential actions Pays special attention to societal impacts and fairness in decision making Traces the development of machine learning from its origins to today Features a novel chapter on machine learning benchmarks and datasets Invites readers from all backgrounds, requiring some experience with probability, calculus, and linear algebra An essential textbook for students and a guide for researchers

sf

link (url) [BibTex]

2022

sf Hardt, M., Recht, B. Patterns, Predictions, and Actions: Foundations of Machine Learning Princeton University Press, August 2022 (book)

link (url) [BibTex]

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Observability Analysis of Visual-Inertial Odometry with Online Calibration of Velocity-Control Based Kinematic Motion Models

Li, H., Stueckler, J.

abs/2204.06651, CoRR/arxiv, 2022 (techreport)

Abstract
In this paper, we analyze the observability of the visual-inertial odometry (VIO) using stereo cameras with a velocity-control based kinematic motion model. Previous work shows that in general case the global position and yaw are unobservable in VIO system, additionally the roll and pitch become also unobservable if there is no rotation. We prove that by integrating a planar motion constraint roll and pitch become observable. We also show that the parameters of the motion model are observable.

ev

link (url) [BibTex]

2021

Toward a Science of Effective Well-Doing
Toward a Science of Effective Well-Doing

Lieder, F., Prentice, M., Corwin-Renner, E.

May 2021 (techreport)

Abstract
Well-doing, broadly construed, encompasses acting and thinking in ways that contribute to humanity’s flourishing in the long run. This often takes the form of setting a prosocial goal and pursuing it over an extended period of time. To set and pursue goals in a way that is extremely beneficial for humanity (effective well-doing), people often have to employ critical thinking and far-sighted, rational decision-making in the service of the greater good. To promote effective well-doing, we need to better understand its determinants and psychological mechanisms, as well as the barriers to effective well-doing and how they can be overcome. In this article, we introduce a taxonomy of different forms of well-doing and introduce a conceptual model of the cognitive mechanisms of effective well-doing. We view effective well-doing as the upper end of a moral continuum whose lower half comprises behaviors that are harmful to humanity (ill-doing), and we argue that the capacity for effective well-doing has to be developed through personal growth (e.g., learning how to pursue goals effectively). Research on these phenomena has so far been scattered across numerous disconnected literatures from multiple disciplines. To bring these communities together, we call for the establishment of a transdisciplinary research field focussed on understanding and promoting effective well-doing and personal growth as well as understanding and reducing ill-doing. We define this research field in terms of its goals and questions. We review what is already known about these questions in different disciplines and argue that laying the scientific foundation for promoting effective well-doing is one of the most valuable contributions that the behavioral sciences can make in the 21st century.

re

Preprint Project Page [BibTex]

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Reinforcement Learning Algorithms: Analysis and Applications

Belousov, B., H., A., Klink, P., Parisi, S., Peters, J.

883, Studies in Computational Intelligence, Springer International Publishing, 2021 (book)

ei

DOI [BibTex]

ei Belousov, B., H., A., Klink, P., Parisi, S., Peters, J. Reinforcement Learning Algorithms: Analysis and Applications 883, Studies in Computational Intelligence, Springer International Publishing, 2021 (book)

DOI [BibTex]

2020

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Voltage dependent interfacial magnetism in multilayer systems

Nacke, R.

Universität Stuttgart, Stuttgart, December 2020 (thesis)

mms

[BibTex]

2020

mms Nacke, R. Voltage dependent interfacial magnetism in multilayer systems Universität Stuttgart, Stuttgart, December 2020 (thesis)

[BibTex]

Optimal To-Do List Gamification
Optimal To-Do List Gamification

Stojcheski, J., Felso, V., Lieder, F.

ArXiv Preprint, 2020 (techreport)

Abstract
What should I work on first? What can wait until later? Which projects should I prioritize and which tasks are not worth my time? These are challenging questions that many people face every day. People’s intuitive strategy is to prioritize their immediate experience over the long-term consequences. This leads to procrastination and the neglect of important long-term projects in favor of seemingly urgent tasks that are less important. Optimal gamification strives to help people overcome these problems by incentivizing each task by a number of points that communicates how valuable it is in the long-run. Unfortunately, computing the optimal number of points with standard dynamic programming methods quickly becomes intractable as the number of a person’s projects and the number of tasks required by each project increase. Here, we introduce and evaluate a scalable method for identifying which tasks are most important in the long run and incentivizing each task according to its long-term value. Our method makes it possible to create to-do list gamification apps that can handle the size and complexity of people’s to-do lists in the real world.

re

link (url) DOI Project Page [BibTex]

Computer Vision for Autonomous Vehicles: Problems, Datasets and State-of-the-Art
Computer Vision for Autonomous Vehicles: Problems, Datasets and State-of-the-Art

Janai, J., Güney, F., Behl, A., Geiger, A.

12(1-3), Foundations and Trends® in Computer Graphics and Vision, now Publishers Inc., Hanover, MA, 2020 (book)

Abstract
Recent years have witnessed enormous progress in AI-related fields such as computer vision, machine learning, and autonomous vehicles. As with any rapidly growing field, it becomes increasingly difficult to stay up-to-date or enter the field as a beginner. While several survey papers on particular sub-problems have appeared, no comprehensive survey on problems, datasets, and methods in computer vision for autonomous vehicles has been published. This monograph attempts to narrow this gap by providing a survey on the state-of-the-art datasets and techniques. Our survey includes both the historically most relevant literature as well as the current state of the art on several specific topics, including recognition, reconstruction, motion estimation, tracking, scene understanding, and end-to-end learning for autonomous driving. Towards this goal, we analyze the performance of the state of the art on several challenging benchmarking datasets, including KITTI, MOT, and Cityscapes. Besides, we discuss open problems and current research challenges. To ease accessibility and accommodate missing references, we also provide a website that allows navigating topics as well as methods and provides additional information.

avg

pdf Project Page link DOI Project Page [BibTex]

avg Janai, J., Güney, F., Behl, A., Geiger, A. Computer Vision for Autonomous Vehicles: Problems, Datasets and State-of-the-Art 12(1-3), Foundations and Trends® in Computer Graphics and Vision, now Publishers Inc., Hanover, MA, 2020 (book)

pdf Project Page link DOI Project Page [BibTex]

2019

ProtoGAN: Towards Few Shot Learning for Action Recognition
ProtoGAN: Towards Few Shot Learning for Action Recognition

Dwivedi, S. K., Gupta, V., Mitra, R., Ahmed, S., Jain, A.

Proc. International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV) Workshops, October 2019 (manual)

Abstract
Few-shot learning (FSL) for action recognition is a challenging task of recognizing novel action categories which are represented by few instances in the training data. In a more generalized FSL setting (G-FSL), both seen as well as novel action categories need to be recognized. Conventional classifiers suffer due to inadequate data in FSL setting and inherent bias towards seen action categories in G-FSL setting. In this paper, we address this problem by proposing a novel ProtoGAN framework which synthesizes additional examples for novel categories by conditioning a conditional generative adversarial network with class prototype vectors. These class prototype vectors are learnt using a Class Prototype Transfer Network (CPTN) from examples of seen categories. Our synthesized examples for a novel class are semantically similar to real examples belonging to that class and is used to train a model exhibiting better generalization towards novel classes. We support our claim by performing extensive experiments on three datasets: UCF101, HMDB51 and Olympic-Sports. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to report the results for G-FSL and provide a strong benchmark for future research. We also outperform the state-of-the-art method in FSL for all the aforementioned datasets.

ps

paper data [BibTex]

2019

ps Dwivedi, S. K., Gupta, V., Mitra, R., Ahmed, S., Jain, A. ProtoGAN: Towards Few Shot Learning for Action Recognition Proc. International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV) Workshops, October 2019 (manual)

paper data [BibTex]

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Prototyping Micro- and Nano-Optics with Focused Ion Beam Lithography

Keskinbora, K.

SL48, pages: 46, SPIE.Spotlight, SPIE Press, Bellingham, WA, 2019 (book)

mms

DOI [BibTex]

mms Keskinbora, K. Prototyping Micro- and Nano-Optics with Focused Ion Beam Lithography SL48, pages: 46, SPIE.Spotlight, SPIE Press, Bellingham, WA, 2019 (book)

DOI [BibTex]

2018

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Detailed Dense Inference with Convolutional Neural Networks via Discrete Wavelet Transform

Ma, L., Stueckler, J., Wu, T., Cremers, D.

arxiv, 2018, arXiv:1808.01834 (techreport)

ev

[BibTex]

2018

ev Ma, L., Stueckler, J., Wu, T., Cremers, D. Detailed Dense Inference with Convolutional Neural Networks via Discrete Wavelet Transform arxiv, 2018, arXiv:1808.01834 (techreport)

[BibTex]

2017

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Elements of Causal Inference - Foundations and Learning Algorithms

Peters, J., Janzing, D., Schölkopf, B.

Adaptive Computation and Machine Learning Series, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA, 2017 (book)

ei

PDF link (url) [BibTex]

2017

ei Peters, J., Janzing, D., Schölkopf, B. Elements of Causal Inference - Foundations and Learning Algorithms Adaptive Computation and Machine Learning Series, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA, 2017 (book)

PDF link (url) [BibTex]

Mobile Microrobotics
Mobile Microrobotics

Sitti, M.

Mobile Microrobotics, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2017 (book)

Abstract
Progress in micro- and nano-scale science and technology has created a demand for new microsystems for high-impact applications in healthcare, biotechnology, manufacturing, and mobile sensor networks. The new robotics field of microrobotics has emerged to extend our interactions and explorations to sub-millimeter scales. This is the first textbook on micron-scale mobile robotics, introducing the fundamentals of design, analysis, fabrication, and control, and drawing on case studies of existing approaches. The book covers the scaling laws that can be used to determine the dominant forces and effects at the micron scale; models forces acting on microrobots, including surface forces, friction, and viscous drag; and describes such possible microfabrication techniques as photo-lithography, bulk micromachining, and deep reactive ion etching. It presents on-board and remote sensing methods, noting that remote sensors are currently more feasible; studies possible on-board microactuators; discusses self-propulsion methods that use self-generated local gradients and fields or biological cells in liquid environments; and describes remote microrobot actuation methods for use in limited spaces such as inside the human body. It covers possible on-board powering methods, indispensable in future medical and other applications; locomotion methods for robots on surfaces, in liquids, in air, and on fluid-air interfaces; and the challenges of microrobot localization and control, in particular multi-robot control methods for magnetic microrobots. Finally, the book addresses current and future applications, including noninvasive medical diagnosis and treatment, environmental remediation, and scientific tools.

pi

Mobile Microrobotics By Metin Sitti - Chapter 1 (PDF) link (url) [BibTex]

pi Sitti, M. Mobile Microrobotics Mobile Microrobotics, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2017 (book)

Mobile Microrobotics By Metin Sitti - Chapter 1 (PDF) link (url) [BibTex]

2016

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

Ebner, S., Trimpe, S.

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

am ics

PDF [BibTex]

2016

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

PDF [BibTex]

2015

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Distributed Event-based State Estimation

Trimpe, S.

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

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

am ics

arXiv [BibTex]

2015

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

arXiv [BibTex]

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Policy Search for Imitation Learning

Doerr, A.

University of Stuttgart, January 2015 (thesis)

am ics

link (url) Project Page [BibTex]

am ics Doerr, A. Policy Search for Imitation Learning University of Stuttgart, January 2015 (thesis)

link (url) Project Page [BibTex]

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Cosmology from Cosmic Shear with DES Science Verification Data

Abbott, T., Abdalla, F. B., Allam, S., Amara, A., Annis, J., Armstrong, R., Bacon, D., Banerji, M., Bauer, A. H., Baxter, E., others,

arXiv preprint arXiv:1507.05552, 2015 (techreport)

ei

link (url) [BibTex]

ei Abbott, T., Abdalla, F. B., Allam, S., Amara, A., Annis, J., Armstrong, R., Bacon, D., Banerji, M., Bauer, A. H., Baxter, E., others, Cosmology from Cosmic Shear with DES Science Verification Data arXiv preprint arXiv:1507.05552, 2015 (techreport)

link (url) [BibTex]

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The DES Science Verification Weak Lensing Shear Catalogs

Jarvis, M., Sheldon, E., Zuntz, J., Kacprzak, T., Bridle, S. L., Amara, A., Armstrong, R., Becker, M. R., Bernstein, G. M., Bonnett, C., others,

arXiv preprint arXiv:1507.05603, 2015 (techreport)

ei

link (url) [BibTex]

ei Jarvis, M., Sheldon, E., Zuntz, J., Kacprzak, T., Bridle, S. L., Amara, A., Armstrong, R., Becker, M. R., Bernstein, G. M., Bonnett, C., others, The DES Science Verification Weak Lensing Shear Catalogs arXiv preprint arXiv:1507.05603, 2015 (techreport)

link (url) [BibTex]

2014

Advanced Structured Prediction
Advanced Structured Prediction

Nowozin, S., Gehler, P. V., Jancsary, J., Lampert, C. H.

Advanced Structured Prediction, pages: 432, Neural Information Processing Series, MIT Press, November 2014 (book)

Abstract
The goal of structured prediction is to build machine learning models that predict relational information that itself has structure, such as being composed of multiple interrelated parts. These models, which reflect prior knowledge, task-specific relations, and constraints, are used in fields including computer vision, speech recognition, natural language processing, and computational biology. They can carry out such tasks as predicting a natural language sentence, or segmenting an image into meaningful components. These models are expressive and powerful, but exact computation is often intractable. A broad research effort in recent years has aimed at designing structured prediction models and approximate inference and learning procedures that are computationally efficient. This volume offers an overview of this recent research in order to make the work accessible to a broader research community. The chapters, by leading researchers in the field, cover a range of topics, including research trends, the linear programming relaxation approach, innovations in probabilistic modeling, recent theoretical progress, and resource-aware learning.

ps

publisher link (url) [BibTex]

2014

ps Nowozin, S., Gehler, P. V., Jancsary, J., Lampert, C. H. Advanced Structured Prediction Advanced Structured Prediction, pages: 432, Neural Information Processing Series, MIT Press, November 2014 (book)

publisher link (url) [BibTex]

Model transport: towards scalable transfer learning on manifolds - supplemental material
Model transport: towards scalable transfer learning on manifolds - supplemental material

Freifeld, O., Hauberg, S., Black, M. J.

(9), April 2014 (techreport)

Abstract
This technical report is complementary to "Model Transport: Towards Scalable Transfer Learning on Manifolds" and contains proofs, explanation of the attached video (visualization of bases from the body shape experiments), and high-resolution images of select results of individual reconstructions from the shape experiments. It is identical to the supplemental mate- rial submitted to the Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR 2014) on November 2013.

ps

PDF [BibTex]

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RoCKIn@Work in a Nutshell

Ahmad, A., Amigoni, A., Awaad, I., Berghofer, J., Bischoff, R., Bonarini, A., Dwiputra, R., Fontana, G., Hegger, F., Hochgeschwender, N., Iocchi, L., Kraetzschmar, G., Lima, P., Matteucci, M., Nardi, D., Schiaffonati, V., Schneider, S.

(FP7-ICT-601012 Revision 1.2), RoCKIn - Robot Competitions Kick Innovation in Cognitive Systems and Robotics, March 2014 (techreport)

Abstract
The main purpose of RoCKIn@Work is to foster innovation in industrial service robotics. Innovative robot applications for industry call for the capability to work interactively with humans and reduced initial programming requirements. This will open new opportunities to automate challenging manufacturing processes, even for small to medium-sized lots and highly customer-specific production requirements. Thereby, the RoCKIn competitions pave the way for technology transfer and contribute to the continued commercial competitiveness of European industry.

ps

[BibTex]

ps Ahmad, A., Amigoni, A., Awaad, I., Berghofer, J., Bischoff, R., Bonarini, A., Dwiputra, R., Fontana, G., Hegger, F., Hochgeschwender, N., Iocchi, L., Kraetzschmar, G., Lima, P., Matteucci, M., Nardi, D., Schiaffonati, V., Schneider, S. RoCKIn@Work in a Nutshell (FP7-ICT-601012 Revision 1.2), RoCKIn - Robot Competitions Kick Innovation in Cognitive Systems and Robotics, March 2014 (techreport)

[BibTex]

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RoCKIn@Home in a Nutshell

Ahmad, A., Amigoni, F., Awaad, I., Berghofer, J., Bischoff, R., Bonarini, A., Dwiputra, R., Fontana, G., Hegger, F., Hochgeschwender, N., Iocchi, L., Kraetzschmar, G., Lima, P., Matteucci, M., Nardi, D., Schneider, S.

(FP7-ICT-601012 Revision 0.8), RoCKIn - Robot Competitions Kick Innovation in Cognitive Systems and Robotics, March 2014 (techreport)

Abstract
RoCKIn@Home is a competition that aims at bringing together the benefits of scientific benchmarking with the attraction of scientific competitions in the realm of domestic service robotics. The objectives are to bolster research in service robotics for home applications and to raise public awareness of the current and future capabilities of such robot systems to meet societal challenges like healthy ageing and longer independent living.

ps

[BibTex]

ps Ahmad, A., Amigoni, F., Awaad, I., Berghofer, J., Bischoff, R., Bonarini, A., Dwiputra, R., Fontana, G., Hegger, F., Hochgeschwender, N., Iocchi, L., Kraetzschmar, G., Lima, P., Matteucci, M., Nardi, D., Schneider, S. RoCKIn@Home in a Nutshell (FP7-ICT-601012 Revision 0.8), RoCKIn - Robot Competitions Kick Innovation in Cognitive Systems and Robotics, March 2014 (techreport)

[BibTex]

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Learning Motor Skills: From Algorithms to Robot Experiments

Kober, J., Peters, J.

97, pages: 191, Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics, Springer, 2014 (book)

ei

DOI [BibTex]

ei Kober, J., Peters, J. Learning Motor Skills: From Algorithms to Robot Experiments 97, pages: 191, Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics, Springer, 2014 (book)

DOI [BibTex]

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Computational Diffusion MRI and Brain Connectivity

Schultz, T., Nedjati-Gilani, G., Venkataraman, A., O’Donnell, L., Panagiotaki, E.

pages: 255, Mathematics and Visualization, Springer, 2014 (book)

ei

Web [BibTex]

ei Schultz, T., Nedjati-Gilani, G., Venkataraman, A., O’Donnell, L., Panagiotaki, E. Computational Diffusion MRI and Brain Connectivity pages: 255, Mathematics and Visualization, Springer, 2014 (book)

Web [BibTex]

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Development of advanced methods for improving astronomical images

Schmeißer, N.

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, 2014 (diplomathesis)

ei

[BibTex]

ei Schmeißer, N. Development of advanced methods for improving astronomical images Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, 2014 (diplomathesis)

[BibTex]

Human Pose Estimation from Video and Inertial Sensors
Human Pose Estimation from Video and Inertial Sensors

Pons-Moll, G.

Ph.D Thesis, -, 2014 (book)

Abstract
The analysis and understanding of human movement is central to many applications such as sports science, medical diagnosis and movie production. The ability to automatically monitor human activity in security sensitive areas such as airports, lobbies or borders is of great practical importance. Furthermore, automatic pose estimation from images leverages the processing and understanding of massive digital libraries available on the Internet. We build upon a model based approach where the human shape is modelled with a surface mesh and the motion is parametrized by a kinematic chain. We then seek for the pose of the model that best explains the available observations coming from different sensors. In a first scenario, we consider a calibrated mult-iview setup in an indoor studio. To obtain very accurate results, we propose a novel tracker that combines information coming from video and a small set of Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs). We do so by locally optimizing a joint energy consisting of a term that measures the likelihood of the video data and a term for the IMU data. This is the first work to successfully combine video and IMUs information for full body pose estimation. When compared to commercial marker based systems the proposed solution is more cost efficient and less intrusive for the user. In a second scenario, we relax the assumption of an indoor studio and we tackle outdoor scenes with background clutter, illumination changes, large recording volumes and difficult motions of people interacting with objects. Again, we combine information from video and IMUs. Here we employ a particle based optimization approach that allows us to be more robust to tracking failures. To satisfy the orientation constraints imposed by the IMUs, we derive an analytic Inverse Kinematics (IK) procedure to sample from the manifold of valid poses. The generated hypothesis come from a lower dimensional manifold and therefore the computational cost can be reduced. Experiments on challenging sequences suggest the proposed tracker can be applied to capture in outdoor scenarios. Furthermore, the proposed IK sampling procedure can be used to integrate any kind of constraints derived from the environment. Finally, we consider the most challenging possible scenario: pose estimation of monocular images. Here, we argue that estimating the pose to the degree of accuracy as in an engineered environment is too ambitious with the current technology. Therefore, we propose to extract meaningful semantic information about the pose directly from image features in a discriminative fashion. In particular, we introduce posebits which are semantic pose descriptors about the geometric relationships between parts in the body. The experiments show that the intermediate step of inferring posebits from images can improve pose estimation from monocular imagery. Furthermore, posebits can be very useful as input feature for many computer vision algorithms.

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pdf [BibTex]

2013

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Camera-specific Image Denoising

Schober, M.

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, October 2013 (diplomathesis)

ei pn

PDF [BibTex]

2013

ei pn Schober, M. Camera-specific Image Denoising Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, October 2013 (diplomathesis)

PDF [BibTex]

Puppet Flow
Puppet Flow

Zuffi, S., Black, M. J.

(7), Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, October 2013 (techreport)

Abstract
We introduce Puppet Flow (PF), a layered model describing the optical flow of a person in a video sequence. We consider video frames composed by two layers: a foreground layer corresponding to a person, and background. We model the background as an affine flow field. The foreground layer, being a moving person, requires reasoning about the articulated nature of the human body. We thus represent the foreground layer with the Deformable Structures model (DS), a parametrized 2D part-based human body representation. We call the motion field defined through articulated motion and deformation of the DS model, a Puppet Flow. By exploiting the DS representation, Puppet Flow is a parametrized optical flow field, where parameters are the person's pose, gender and body shape.

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pdf Project Page Project Page [BibTex]

ps Zuffi, S., Black, M. J. Puppet Flow (7), Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, October 2013 (techreport)

pdf Project Page Project Page [BibTex]

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D2.1.4 RoCKIn@Work - Innovation in Mobile Industrial Manipulation Competition Design, Rule Book, and Scenario Construction

Ahmad, A., Awaad, I., Amigoni, F., Berghofer, J., Bischoff, R., Bonarini, A., Dwiputra, R., Hegger, F., Hochgeschwender, N., Iocchi, L., Kraetzschmar, G., Lima, P., Matteucci, M., Nardi, D., Schneider, S.

(FP7-ICT-601012 Revision 0.7), RoCKIn - Robot Competitions Kick Innovation in Cognitive Systems and Robotics, sep 2013 (techreport)

Abstract
RoCKIn is a EU-funded project aiming to foster scientific progress and innovation in cognitive systems and robotics through the design and implementation of competitions. An additional objective of RoCKIn is to increase public awareness of the current state-of-the-art in robotics in Europe and to demonstrate the innovation potential of robotics applications for solving societal challenges and improving the competitiveness of Europe in the global markets. In order to achieve these objectives, RoCKIn develops two competitions, one for domestic service robots (RoCKIn@Home) and one for industrial robots in factories (RoCKIn-@Work). These competitions are designed around challenges that are based on easy-to-communicate and convincing user stories, which catch the interest of both the general public and the scientifc community. The latter is in particular interested in solving open scientific challenges and to thoroughly assess, compare, and evaluate the developed approaches with competing ones. To allow this to happen, the competitions are designed to meet the requirements of benchmarking procedures and good experimental methods. The integration of benchmarking technology with the competition concept is one of the main objectives of RoCKIn. This document describes the first version of the RoCKIn@Work competition, which will be held for the first time in 2014. The first chapter of the document gives a brief overview, outlining the purpose and objective of the competition, the methodological approach taken by the RoCKIn project, the user story upon which the competition is based, the structure and organization of the competition, and the commonalities and differences with the RoboCup@Work competition, which served as inspiration for RoCKIn@Work. The second chapter provides details on the user story and analyzes the scientific and technical challenges it poses. Consecutive chapters detail the competition scenario, the competition design, and the organization of the competition. The appendices contain information on a library of functionalities, which we believe are needed, or at least useful, for building competition entries, details on the scenario construction, and a detailed account of the benchmarking infrastructure needed — and provided by RoCKIn.

ps

[BibTex]

ps Ahmad, A., Awaad, I., Amigoni, F., Berghofer, J., Bischoff, R., Bonarini, A., Dwiputra, R., Hegger, F., Hochgeschwender, N., Iocchi, L., Kraetzschmar, G., Lima, P., Matteucci, M., Nardi, D., Schneider, S. D2.1.4 RoCKIn@Work - Innovation in Mobile Industrial Manipulation Competition Design, Rule Book, and Scenario Construction (FP7-ICT-601012 Revision 0.7), RoCKIn - Robot Competitions Kick Innovation in Cognitive Systems and Robotics, sep 2013 (techreport)

[BibTex]

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D2.1.1 RoCKIn@Home - A Competition for Domestic Service Robots Competition Design, Rule Book, and Scenario Construction

Ahmad, A., Awaad, I., Amigoni, F., Berghofer, J., Bischoff, R., Bonarini, A., Dwiputra, R., Hegger, F., Hochgeschwender, N., Iocchi, L., Kraetzschmar, G., Lima, P., Matteucci, M., Nardi, D., Schneider, S.

(FP7-ICT-601012 Revision 0.7), RoCKIn - Robot Competitions Kick Innovation in Cognitive Systems and Robotics, sep 2013 (techreport)

Abstract
RoCKIn is a EU-funded project aiming to foster scientific progress and innovation in cognitive systems and robotics through the design and implementation of competitions. An additional objective of RoCKIn is to increase public awareness of the current state-of-the-art in robotics in Europe and to demonstrate the innovation potential of robotics applications for solving societal challenges and improving the competitiveness of Europe in the global markets. In order to achieve these objectives, RoCKIn develops two competitions, one for domestic service robots (RoCKIn@Home) and one for industrial robots in factories (RoCKIn-@Work). These competitions are designed around challenges that are based on easy-to-communicate and convincing user stories, which catch the interest of both the general public and the scientifc community. The latter is in particular interested in solving open scientific challenges and to thoroughly assess, compare, and evaluate the developed approaches with competing ones. To allow this to happen, the competitions are designed to meet the requirements of benchmarking procedures and good experimental methods. The integration of benchmarking technology with the competition concept is one of the main objectives of RoCKIn. This document describes the first version of the RoCKIn@Home competition, which will be held for the first time in 2014. The first chapter of the document gives a brief overview, outlining the purpose and objective of the competition, the methodological approach taken by the RoCKIn project, the user story upon which the competition is based, the structure and organization of the competition, and the commonalities and differences with the RoboCup@Home competition, which served as inspiration for RoCKIn@Home. The second chapter provides details on the user story and analyzes the scientific and technical challenges it poses. Consecutive chapters detail the competition scenario, the competition design, and the organization of the competition. The appendices contain information on a library of functionalities, which we believe are needed, or at least useful, for building competition entries, details on the scenario construction, and a detailed account of the benchmarking infrastructure needed — and provided by RoCKIn.

ps

[BibTex]

ps Ahmad, A., Awaad, I., Amigoni, F., Berghofer, J., Bischoff, R., Bonarini, A., Dwiputra, R., Hegger, F., Hochgeschwender, N., Iocchi, L., Kraetzschmar, G., Lima, P., Matteucci, M., Nardi, D., Schneider, S. D2.1.1 RoCKIn@Home - A Competition for Domestic Service Robots Competition Design, Rule Book, and Scenario Construction (FP7-ICT-601012 Revision 0.7), RoCKIn - Robot Competitions Kick Innovation in Cognitive Systems and Robotics, sep 2013 (techreport)

[BibTex]

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D1.1 Specification of General Features of Scenarios and Robots for Benchmarking Through Competitions

Ahmad, A., Awaad, I., Amigoni, F., Berghofer, J., Bischoff, R., Bonarini, A., Dwiputra, R., Fontana, G., Hegger, F., Hochgeschwender, N., Iocchi, L., Kraetzschmar, G., Lima, P., Matteucci, M., Nardi, D., Schiaffonati, V., Schneider, S.

(FP7-ICT-601012 Revision 1.0), RoCKIn - Robot Competitions Kick Innovation in Cognitive Systems and Robotics, July 2013 (techreport)

Abstract
RoCKIn is a EU-funded project aiming to foster scientific progress and innovation in cognitive systems and robotics through the design and implementation of competitions. An additional objective of RoCKIn is to increase public awareness of the current state-of-the-art in robotics and the innovation potential of robotics applications. From these objectives several requirements for the work performed in RoCKIn can be derived: The RoCKIn competitions must start from convincing, easy-to-communicate user stories, that catch the attention of relevant stakeholders, the media, and the crowd. The user stories play the role of a mid- to long-term vision for a competition. Preferably, the user stories address economic, societal, or environmental problems. The RoCKIn competitions must pose open scientific challenges of interest to sufficiently many researchers to attract existing and new teams of robotics researchers for participation in the competition. The competitions need to promise some suitable reward, such as recognition in the scientific community, publicity for a team’s work, awards, or prize money, to justify the effort a team puts into the development of a competition entry. The competitions should be designed in such a way that they reward general, scientifically sound solutions to the challenge problems; such general solutions should score better than approaches that work only in narrowly defined contexts and are considred over-engineered. The challenges motivating the RoCKIn competitions must be broken down into suitable intermediate goals that can be reached with a limited team effort until the next competition and the project duration. The RoCKIn competitions must be well-defined and well-designed, with comprehensive rule books and instructions for the participants in order to guarantee a fair competition. The RoCKIn competitions must integrate competitions with benchmarking in order to provide comprehensive feedback for the teams about the suitability of particular functional modules, their overall architecture, and system integration. This document takes the first steps towards the RoCKIn goals. After outlining our approach, we present several user stories for further discussion within the community. The main objectives of this document are to identify and document relevant scenario features and the tasks and functionalities subject for benchmarking in the competitions.

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[BibTex]

ps Ahmad, A., Awaad, I., Amigoni, F., Berghofer, J., Bischoff, R., Bonarini, A., Dwiputra, R., Fontana, G., Hegger, F., Hochgeschwender, N., Iocchi, L., Kraetzschmar, G., Lima, P., Matteucci, M., Nardi, D., Schiaffonati, V., Schneider, S. D1.1 Specification of General Features of Scenarios and Robots for Benchmarking Through Competitions (FP7-ICT-601012 Revision 1.0), RoCKIn - Robot Competitions Kick Innovation in Cognitive Systems and Robotics, July 2013 (techreport)

[BibTex]

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SocRob-MSL 2013 Team Description Paper for Middle Sized League

Messias, J., Ahmad, A., Reis, J., Serafim, M., Lima, P.

17th Annual RoboCup International Symposium 2013, 2013 (techreport)

Abstract
This paper describes the status of the SocRob MSL robotic soccer team as required by the RoboCup 2013 qualification procedures. The team’s latest scientific and technical developments, since its last participation in RoboCup MSL, include further advances in cooperative perception; novel communication methods for distributed robotics; progressive deployment of the ROS middleware; improved localization through feature tracking and Mixture MCL; novel planning methods based on Petri nets and decision-theoretic frameworks; and hardware developments in ball-handling/kicking devices.

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[BibTex]

ps Messias, J., Ahmad, A., Reis, J., Serafim, M., Lima, P. SocRob-MSL 2013 Team Description Paper for Middle Sized League 17th Annual RoboCup International Symposium 2013, 2013 (techreport)

[BibTex]

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

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

ArXiv, May 2013 (techreport)

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

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arxiv link (url) [BibTex]

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

arxiv link (url) [BibTex]

A Quantitative Analysis of Current Practices in Optical Flow Estimation and the Principles Behind Them
A Quantitative Analysis of Current Practices in Optical Flow Estimation and the Principles Behind Them

Sun, D., Roth, S., Black, M. J.

(CS-10-03), Brown University, Department of Computer Science, January 2013 (techreport)

ps

pdf [BibTex]

ps Sun, D., Roth, S., Black, M. J. A Quantitative Analysis of Current Practices in Optical Flow Estimation and the Principles Behind Them (CS-10-03), Brown University, Department of Computer Science, January 2013 (techreport)

pdf [BibTex]

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Animating Samples from Gaussian Distributions

Hennig, P.

(8), Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Tübingen, Germany, 2013 (techreport)

ei pn

PDF [BibTex]

ei pn Hennig, P. Animating Samples from Gaussian Distributions (8), Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Tübingen, Germany, 2013 (techreport)

PDF [BibTex]

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Maximizing Kepler science return per telemetered pixel: Detailed models of the focal plane in the two-wheel era

Hogg, D. W., Angus, R., Barclay, T., Dawson, R., Fergus, R., Foreman-Mackey, D., Harmeling, S., Hirsch, M., Lang, D., Montet, B. T., Schiminovich, D., Schölkopf, B.

arXiv:1309.0653, 2013 (techreport)

ei

link (url) [BibTex]

ei Hogg, D. W., Angus, R., Barclay, T., Dawson, R., Fergus, R., Foreman-Mackey, D., Harmeling, S., Hirsch, M., Lang, D., Montet, B. T., Schiminovich, D., Schölkopf, B. Maximizing Kepler science return per telemetered pixel: Detailed models of the focal plane in the two-wheel era arXiv:1309.0653, 2013 (techreport)

link (url) [BibTex]

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Maximizing Kepler science return per telemetered pixel: Searching the habitable zones of the brightest stars

Montet, B. T., Angus, R., Barclay, T., Dawson, R., Fergus, R., Foreman-Mackey, D., Harmeling, S., Hirsch, M., Hogg, D. W., Lang, D., Schiminovich, D., Schölkopf, B.

arXiv:1309.0654, 2013 (techreport)

ei

link (url) [BibTex]

ei Montet, B. T., Angus, R., Barclay, T., Dawson, R., Fergus, R., Foreman-Mackey, D., Harmeling, S., Hirsch, M., Hogg, D. W., Lang, D., Schiminovich, D., Schölkopf, B. Maximizing Kepler science return per telemetered pixel: Searching the habitable zones of the brightest stars arXiv:1309.0654, 2013 (techreport)

link (url) [BibTex]