Publications | Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems

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

Fabrication and temperature-dependent magnetic properties of large-area L10-FePt/Co exchange-spring magnet nanopatterns

Son, K., Schütz, G.

{Physica E: Low-Dimensional Systems And Nanostructures}, 115, North-Holland, Amsterdam, 2020 (article)

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mms Son, K., Schütz, G. Fabrication and temperature-dependent magnetic properties of large-area L10-FePt/Co exchange-spring magnet nanopatterns {Physica E: Low-Dimensional Systems And Nanostructures}, 115, North-Holland, Amsterdam, 2020 (article)

2018

Role of symmetry in driven propulsion at low Reynolds number

Sachs, J., Morozov, K. I., Kenneth, O., Qiu, T., Segreto, N., Fischer, P., Leshansky, A. M.

Phys. Rev. E, 98(6):063105, American Physical Society, December 2018 (article)

Abstract

We theoretically and experimentally investigate low-Reynolds-number propulsion of geometrically achiral planar objects that possess a dipole moment and that are driven by a rotating magnetic field. Symmetry considerations (involving parity, $\widehat{P}$, and charge conjugation, $\widehat{C}$) establish correspondence between propulsive states depending on orientation of the dipolar moment. Although basic symmetry arguments do not forbid individual symmetric objects to efficiently propel due to spontaneous symmetry breaking, they suggest that the average ensemble velocity vanishes. Some additional arguments show, however, that highly symmetrical ($\widehat{P}$-even) objects exhibit no net propulsion while individual less symmetrical ($\widehat{C}\widehat{P}$-even) propellers do propel. Particular magnetization orientation, rendering the shape $\widehat{C}\widehat{P}$-odd, yields unidirectional motion typically associated with chiral structures, such as helices. If instead of a structure with a permanent dipole we consider a polarizable object, some of the arguments have to be modified. For instance, we demonstrate a truly achiral ($\widehat{P}$- and $\widehat{C}\widehat{P}$-even) planar shape with an induced electric dipole that can propel by electro-rotation. We thereby show that chirality is not essential for propulsion due to rotation-translation coupling at low Reynolds number.

2018

pf Sachs, J., Morozov, K. I., Kenneth, O., Qiu, T., Segreto, N., Fischer, P., Leshansky, A. M. Role of symmetry in driven propulsion at low Reynolds number Phys. Rev. E, 98(6):063105, American Physical Society, December 2018 (article)

Swimming Back and Forth Using Planar Flagellar Propulsion at Low Reynolds Numbers

Khalil, I. S. M., Tabak, A. F., Hamed, Y., Mitwally, M. E., Tawakol, M., Klingner, A., Sitti, M.

Advanced Science, 5(2):1700461, 2018 (article)

Abstract

Abstract Peritrichously flagellated Escherichia coli swim back and forth by wrapping their flagella together in a helical bundle. However, other monotrichous bacteria cannot swim back and forth with a single flagellum and planar wave propagation. Quantifying this observation, a magnetically driven soft two‐tailed microrobot capable of reversing its swimming direction without making a U‐turn trajectory or actively modifying the direction of wave propagation is designed and developed. The microrobot contains magnetic microparticles within the polymer matrix of its head and consists of two collinear, unequal, and opposite ultrathin tails. It is driven and steered using a uniform magnetic field along the direction of motion with a sinusoidally varying orthogonal component. Distinct reversal frequencies that enable selective and independent excitation of the first or the second tail of the microrobot based on their tail length ratio are found. While the first tail provides a propulsive force below one of the reversal frequencies, the second is almost passive, and the net propulsive force achieves flagellated motion along one direction. On the other hand, the second tail achieves flagellated propulsion along the opposite direction above the reversal frequency.

pi Khalil, I. S. M., Tabak, A. F., Hamed, Y., Mitwally, M. E., Tawakol, M., Klingner, A., Sitti, M. Swimming Back and Forth Using Planar Flagellar Propulsion at Low Reynolds Numbers Advanced Science, 5(2):1700461, 2018 (article)

Non-factorised Variational Inference in Dynamical Systems

Ialongo, A. D., Van Der Wilk, M., Hensman, J., Rasmussen, C. E.

1st Symposion on Advances in Approximate Bayesian Inference, December 2018 (conference)

ei Ialongo, A. D., Van Der Wilk, M., Hensman, J., Rasmussen, C. E. Non-factorised Variational Inference in Dynamical Systems 1st Symposion on Advances in Approximate Bayesian Inference, December 2018 (conference)

Enhancing the Accuracy and Fairness of Human Decision Making

Valera, I., Singla, A., Gomez Rodriguez, M.

Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 31, pages: 1774-1783, (Editors: S. Bengio and H. Wallach and H. Larochelle and K. Grauman and N. Cesa-Bianchi and R. Garnett), Curran Associates, Inc., 32nd Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018 (conference)

ei Valera, I., Singla, A., Gomez Rodriguez, M. Enhancing the Accuracy and Fairness of Human Decision Making Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 31, pages: 1774-1783, (Editors: S. Bengio and H. Wallach and H. Larochelle and K. Grauman and N. Cesa-Bianchi and R. Garnett), Curran Associates, Inc., 32nd Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018 (conference)

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]

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]

When do random forests fail?

Tang, C., Garreau, D., von Luxburg, U.

In Proceedings Neural Information Processing Systems, Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS 2018) , December 2018 (inproceedings)

slt

slt Tang, C., Garreau, D., von Luxburg, U. When do random forests fail? In Proceedings Neural Information Processing Systems, Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS 2018) , December 2018 (inproceedings)

Consolidating the Meta-Learning Zoo: A Unifying Perspective as Posterior Predictive Inference

Gordon*, J., Bronskill*, J., Bauer*, M., Nowozin, S., Turner, R. E.

Workshop on Meta-Learning (MetaLearn 2018) at the 32nd Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018, *equal contribution (conference)

ei Gordon*, J., Bronskill*, J., Bauer*, M., Nowozin, S., Turner, R. E. Consolidating the Meta-Learning Zoo: A Unifying Perspective as Posterior Predictive Inference Workshop on Meta-Learning (MetaLearn 2018) at the 32nd Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018, *equal contribution (conference)

Versa: Versatile and Efficient Few-shot Learning

Gordon*, J., Bronskill*, J., Bauer*, M., Nowozin, S., Turner, R. E.

Third Workshop on Bayesian Deep Learning at the 32nd Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018, *equal contribution (conference)

ei Gordon*, J., Bronskill*, J., Bauer*, M., Nowozin, S., Turner, R. E. Versa: Versatile and Efficient Few-shot Learning Third Workshop on Bayesian Deep Learning at the 32nd Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018, *equal contribution (conference)

DP-MAC: The Differentially Private Method of Auxiliary Coordinates for Deep Learning

Harder, F., Köhler, J., Welling, M., Park, M.

Workshop on Privacy Preserving Machine Learning at the 32nd Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018 (conference)

ei Harder, F., Köhler, J., Welling, M., Park, M. DP-MAC: The Differentially Private Method of Auxiliary Coordinates for Deep Learning Workshop on Privacy Preserving Machine Learning at the 32nd Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018 (conference)

Boosting Black Box Variational Inference

Locatello*, F., Dresdner*, G., R., K., Valera, I., Rätsch, G.

Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 31, pages: 3405-3415, (Editors: S. Bengio and H. Wallach and H. Larochelle and K. Grauman and N. Cesa-Bianchi and R. Garnett), Curran Associates, Inc., 32nd Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018, *equal contribution (conference)

ei Locatello*, F., Dresdner*, G., R., K., Valera, I., Rätsch, G. Boosting Black Box Variational Inference Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 31, pages: 3405-3415, (Editors: S. Bengio and H. Wallach and H. Larochelle and K. Grauman and N. Cesa-Bianchi and R. Garnett), Curran Associates, Inc., 32nd Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018, *equal contribution (conference)

Mehrjou, A., Schölkopf, B.

Deep Nonlinear Non-Gaussian Filtering for Dynamical Systems

Workshop: Infer to Control: Probabilistic Reinforcement Learning and Structured Control at the 32nd Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018 (conference)

ei Mehrjou, A., Schölkopf, B. Deep Nonlinear Non-Gaussian Filtering for Dynamical Systems Workshop: Infer to Control: Probabilistic Reinforcement Learning and Structured Control at the 32nd Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018 (conference)

Resampled Priors for Variational Autoencoders

Bauer, M., Mnih, A.

Third Workshop on Bayesian Deep Learning at the 32nd Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018 (conference)

ei Bauer, M., Mnih, A. Resampled Priors for Variational Autoencoders Third Workshop on Bayesian Deep Learning at the 32nd Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018 (conference)

Learning Invariances using the Marginal Likelihood

van der Wilk, M., Bauer, M., John, S. T., Hensman, J.

Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 31, pages: 9960-9970, (Editors: S. Bengio and H. Wallach and H. Larochelle and K. Grauman and N. Cesa-Bianchi and R. Garnett), Curran Associates, Inc., 32nd Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018 (conference)

ei van der Wilk, M., Bauer, M., John, S. T., Hensman, J. Learning Invariances using the Marginal Likelihood Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 31, pages: 9960-9970, (Editors: S. Bengio and H. Wallach and H. Larochelle and K. Grauman and N. Cesa-Bianchi and R. Garnett), Curran Associates, Inc., 32nd Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018 (conference)

Data-Efficient Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning

Nachum, O., Gu, S., Lee, H., Levine, S.

Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 31, pages: 3307-3317, (Editors: S. Bengio and H. Wallach and H. Larochelle and K. Grauman and N. Cesa-Bianchi and R. Garnett), Curran Associates, Inc., 32nd Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018 (conference)

ei Nachum, O., Gu, S., Lee, H., Levine, S. Data-Efficient Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 31, pages: 3307-3317, (Editors: S. Bengio and H. Wallach and H. Larochelle and K. Grauman and N. Cesa-Bianchi and R. Garnett), Curran Associates, Inc., 32nd Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018 (conference)

Generalisation in humans and deep neural networks

Geirhos, R., Temme, C. R. M., Rauber, J., Schütt, H., Bethge, M., Wichmann, F. A.

Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 31, pages: 7549-7561, (Editors: S. Bengio and H. Wallach and H. Larochelle and K. Grauman and N. Cesa-Bianchi and R. Garnett), Curran Associates, Inc., 32nd Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018 (conference)

ei Geirhos, R., Temme, C. R. M., Rauber, J., Schütt, H., Bethge, M., Wichmann, F. A. Generalisation in humans and deep neural networks Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 31, pages: 7549-7561, (Editors: S. Bengio and H. Wallach and H. Larochelle and K. Grauman and N. Cesa-Bianchi and R. Garnett), Curran Associates, Inc., 32nd Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018 (conference)

Learning Gaussian Processes by Minimizing PAC-Bayesian Generalization Bounds

Reeb, D., Doerr, A., Gerwinn, S., Rakitsch, B.

In Proceedings Neural Information Processing Systems, Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS) , December 2018 (inproceedings)

Abstract

Gaussian Processes (GPs) are a generic modelling tool for supervised learning. While they have been successfully applied on large datasets, their use in safety critical applications is hindered by the lack of good performance guarantees. To this end, we propose a method to learn GPs and their sparse approximations by directly optimizing a PAC-Bayesian bound on their generalization performance, instead of maximizing the marginal likelihood. Besides its theoretical appeal, we find in our evaluation that our learning method is robust and yields significantly better generalization guarantees than other common GP approaches on several regression benchmark datasets.

ics

ics Reeb, D., Doerr, A., Gerwinn, S., Rakitsch, B. Learning Gaussian Processes by Minimizing PAC-Bayesian Generalization Bounds In Proceedings Neural Information Processing Systems, Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS) , December 2018 (inproceedings)

Parallel and functionally segregated processing of task phase and conscious content in the prefrontal cortex

Kapoor, V., Besserve, M., Logothetis, N. K., Panagiotaropoulos, T. I.

Communications Biology, 1(215):1-12, December 2018 (article)

ei Kapoor, V., Besserve, M., Logothetis, N. K., Panagiotaropoulos, T. I. Parallel and functionally segregated processing of task phase and conscious content in the prefrontal cortex Communications Biology, 1(215):1-12, December 2018 (article)

A Computational Camera with Programmable Optics for Snapshot High Resolution Multispectral Imaging

Chen, J., Hirsch, M., Eberhardt, B., Lensch, H. P. A.

Computer Vision - ACCV 2018 - 14th Asian Conference on Computer Vision, December 2018 (conference) Accepted

ei Chen, J., Hirsch, M., Eberhardt, B., Lensch, H. P. A. A Computational Camera with Programmable Optics for Snapshot High Resolution Multispectral Imaging Computer Vision - ACCV 2018 - 14th Asian Conference on Computer Vision, December 2018 (conference) Accepted

Adaptive Skip Intervals: Temporal Abstraction for Recurrent Dynamical Models

Neitz, A., Parascandolo, G., Bauer, S., Schölkopf, B.

Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 31, pages: 9838-9848, (Editors: S. Bengio and H. Wallach and H. Larochelle and K. Grauman and N. Cesa-Bianchi and R. Garnett), Curran Associates, Inc., 32nd Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018 (conference)

ei Neitz, A., Parascandolo, G., Bauer, S., Schölkopf, B. Adaptive Skip Intervals: Temporal Abstraction for Recurrent Dynamical Models Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 31, pages: 9838-9848, (Editors: S. Bengio and H. Wallach and H. Larochelle and K. Grauman and N. Cesa-Bianchi and R. Garnett), Curran Associates, Inc., 32nd Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018 (conference)

Assessing Generative Models via Precision and Recall

Sajjadi, M. S. M., Bachem, O., Lucic, M., Bousquet, O., Gelly, S.

Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 31, pages: 5234-5243, (Editors: S. Bengio and H. Wallach and H. Larochelle and K. Grauman and N. Cesa-Bianchi and R. Garnett), Curran Associates, Inc., 32nd Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018 (conference)

ei Sajjadi, M. S. M., Bachem, O., Lucic, M., Bousquet, O., Gelly, S. Assessing Generative Models via Precision and Recall Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 31, pages: 5234-5243, (Editors: S. Bengio and H. Wallach and H. Larochelle and K. Grauman and N. Cesa-Bianchi and R. Garnett), Curran Associates, Inc., 32nd Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018 (conference)

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

arXiv PDF DOI Project Page [BibTex]

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)

arXiv PDF DOI Project Page [BibTex]

Flex-Convolution (Million-Scale Point-Cloud Learning Beyond Grid-Worlds)

Groh*, F., Wieschollek*, P., Lensch, H. P. A.

Computer Vision - ACCV 2018 - 14th Asian Conference on Computer Vision, December 2018, *equal contribution (conference) Accepted

ei Groh*, F., Wieschollek*, P., Lensch, H. P. A. Flex-Convolution (Million-Scale Point-Cloud Learning Beyond Grid-Worlds) Computer Vision - ACCV 2018 - 14th Asian Conference on Computer Vision, December 2018, *equal contribution (conference) Accepted

Bayesian Nonparametric Hawkes Processes

Kapoor, J., Vergari, A., Gomez Rodriguez, M., Valera, I.

Bayesian Nonparametrics workshop at the 32nd Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018 (conference)

ei Kapoor, J., Vergari, A., Gomez Rodriguez, M., Valera, I. Bayesian Nonparametric Hawkes Processes Bayesian Nonparametrics workshop at the 32nd Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018 (conference)

PDF Project Page [BibTex]

Customized Multi-Person Tracker

Ma, L., Tang, S., Black, M. J., Gool, L. V.

In Computer Vision – ACCV 2018, Springer International Publishing, Asian Conference on Computer Vision, December 2018 (inproceedings)

ps Ma, L., Tang, S., Black, M. J., Gool, L. V. Customized Multi-Person Tracker In Computer Vision – ACCV 2018, Springer International Publishing, Asian Conference on Computer Vision, December 2018 (inproceedings)

PDF Project Page [BibTex]

Informative Features for Model Comparison

Jitkrittum, W., Kanagawa, H., Sangkloy, P., Hays, J., Schölkopf, B., Gretton, A.

Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 31, pages: 816-827, (Editors: S. Bengio and H. Wallach and H. Larochelle and K. Grauman and N. Cesa-Bianchi and R. Garnett), Curran Associates, Inc., 32nd Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018 (conference)

ei Jitkrittum, W., Kanagawa, H., Sangkloy, P., Hays, J., Schölkopf, B., Gretton, A. Informative Features for Model Comparison Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 31, pages: 816-827, (Editors: S. Bengio and H. Wallach and H. Larochelle and K. Grauman and N. Cesa-Bianchi and R. Garnett), Curran Associates, Inc., 32nd Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018 (conference)

Hyperbolic Neural Networks

Ganea*, O., Becigneul*, G., Hofmann, T.

Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 31, pages: 5350-5360, (Editors: S. Bengio and H. Wallach and H. Larochelle and K. Grauman and N. Cesa-Bianchi and R. Garnett), Curran Associates, Inc., 32nd Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018, *equal contribution (conference)

ei Ganea*, O., Becigneul*, G., Hofmann, T. Hyperbolic Neural Networks Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 31, pages: 5350-5360, (Editors: S. Bengio and H. Wallach and H. Larochelle and K. Grauman and N. Cesa-Bianchi and R. Garnett), Curran Associates, Inc., 32nd Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, December 2018, *equal contribution (conference)

Optical and Thermophoretic Control of Janus Nanopen Injection into Living Cells

Maier, C. M., Huergo, M. A., Milosevic, S., Pernpeintner, C., Li, M., Singh, D. P., Walker, D., Fischer, P., Feldmann, J., Lohmüller, T.

Nano Letters, 18, pages: 7935–7941, November 2018 (article) Accepted

Abstract

Devising strategies for the controlled injection of functional nanoparticles and reagents into living cells paves the way for novel applications in nanosurgery, sensing, and drug delivery. Here, we demonstrate the light-controlled guiding and injection of plasmonic Janus nanopens into living cells. The pens are made of a gold nanoparticle attached to a dielectric alumina shaft. Balancing optical and thermophoretic forces in an optical tweezer allows single Janus nanopens to be trapped and positioned on the surface of living cells. While the optical injection process involves strong heating of the plasmonic side, the temperature of the alumina stays significantly lower, thus allowing the functionalization with fluorescently labeled, single-stranded DNA and, hence, the spatially controlled injection of genetic material with an untethered nanocarrier.

pf Maier, C. M., Huergo, M. A., Milosevic, S., Pernpeintner, C., Li, M., Singh, D. P., Walker, D., Fischer, P., Feldmann, J., Lohmüller, T. Optical and Thermophoretic Control of Janus Nanopen Injection into Living Cells Nano Letters, 18, pages: 7935–7941, November 2018 (article) Accepted

Video: Nanorobots propel through the eye link (url) DOI [BibTex]

A swarm of slippery micropropellers penetrates the vitreous body of the eye

Wu, Z., Troll, J., Jeong, H. H., Wei, Q., Stang, M., Ziemssen, F., Wang, Z., Dong, M., Schnichels, S., Qiu, T., Fischer, P.

Science Advances, 4(11):eaat4388, November 2018 (article)

Abstract

The intravitreal delivery of therapeutic agents promises major benefits in the field of ocular medicine. Traditional delivery methods rely on the random, passive diffusion of molecules, which do not allow for the rapid delivery of a concentrated cargo to a defined region at the posterior pole of the eye. The use of particles promises targeted delivery but faces the challenge that most tissues including the vitreous have a tight macromolecular matrix that acts as a barrier and prevents its penetration. Here, we demonstrate novel intravitreal delivery microvehicles slippery micropropellers that can be actively propelled through the vitreous humor to reach the retina. The propulsion is achieved by helical magnetic micropropellers that have a liquid layer coating to minimize adhesion to the surrounding biopolymeric network. The submicrometer diameter of the propellers enables the penetration of the biopolymeric network and the propulsion through the porcine vitreous body of the eye over centimeter distances. Clinical optical coherence tomography is used to monitor the movement of the propellers and confirm their arrival on the retina near the optic disc. Overcoming the adhesion forces and actively navigating a swarm of micropropellers in the dense vitreous humor promise practical applications in ophthalmology.

pf Wu, Z., Troll, J., Jeong, H. H., Wei, Q., Stang, M., Ziemssen, F., Wang, Z., Dong, M., Schnichels, S., Qiu, T., Fischer, P. A swarm of slippery micropropellers penetrates the vitreous body of the eye Science Advances, 4(11):eaat4388, November 2018 (article)

Video: Nanorobots propel through the eye link (url) DOI [BibTex]

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.

ics

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)

Park, G., Kuchenbecker, K. J.

Reducing 3D Vibrations to 1D in Real Time

Hands-on demonstration (4 pages) presented at AsiaHaptics, Incheon, South Korea, November 2018 (misc)

Abstract

For simple and realistic vibrotactile feedback, 3D accelerations from real contact interactions are usually rendered using a single-axis vibration actuator; this dimensional reduction can be performed in many ways. This demonstration implements a real-time conversion system that simultaneously measures 3D accelerations and renders corresponding 1D vibrations using a two-pen interface. In the demonstration, a user freely interacts with various objects using an In-Pen that contains a 3-axis accelerometer. The captured accelerations are converted to a single-axis signal, and an Out-Pen renders the reduced signal for the user to feel. We prepared seven conversion methods from the simple use of a single-axis signal to applying principal component analysis (PCA) so that users can compare the performance of each conversion method in this demonstration.

hi Park, G., Kuchenbecker, K. J. Reducing 3D Vibrations to 1D in Real Time Hands-on demonstration (4 pages) presented at AsiaHaptics, Incheon, South Korea, November 2018 (misc)

Deep Inertial Poser: Learning to Reconstruct Human Pose from Sparse Inertial Measurements in Real Time

Huang, Y., Kaufmann, M., Aksan, E., Black, M. J., Hilliges, O., Pons-Moll, G.

ACM Transactions on Graphics, (Proc. SIGGRAPH Asia), 37, pages: 185:1-185:15, ACM, November 2018, Two first authors contributed equally (article)

Abstract

We demonstrate a novel deep neural network capable of reconstructing human full body pose in real-time from 6 Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) worn on the user's body. In doing so, we address several difficult challenges. First, the problem is severely under-constrained as multiple pose parameters produce the same IMU orientations. Second, capturing IMU data in conjunction with ground-truth poses is expensive and difficult to do in many target application scenarios (e.g., outdoors). Third, modeling temporal dependencies through non-linear optimization has proven effective in prior work but makes real-time prediction infeasible. To address this important limitation, we learn the temporal pose priors using deep learning. To learn from sufficient data, we synthesize IMU data from motion capture datasets. A bi-directional RNN architecture leverages past and future information that is available at training time. At test time, we deploy the network in a sliding window fashion, retaining real time capabilities. To evaluate our method, we recorded DIP-IMU, a dataset consisting of 10 subjects wearing 17 IMUs for validation in 64 sequences with 330,000 time instants; this constitutes the largest IMU dataset publicly available. We quantitatively evaluate our approach on multiple datasets and show results from a real-time implementation. DIP-IMU and the code are available for research purposes.

data code pdf preprint video DOI Project Page [BibTex]

ps Huang, Y., Kaufmann, M., Aksan, E., Black, M. J., Hilliges, O., Pons-Moll, G. Deep Inertial Poser: Learning to Reconstruct Human Pose from Sparse Inertial Measurements in Real Time ACM Transactions on Graphics, (Proc. SIGGRAPH Asia), 37, pages: 185:1-185:15, ACM, November 2018, Two first authors contributed equally (article)

data code pdf preprint video DOI Project Page [BibTex]

A Large-Scale Fabric-Based Tactile Sensor Using Electrical Resistance Tomography

Lee, H., Park, K., Kim, J., Kuchenbecker, K. J.

Hands-on demonstration (3 pages) presented at AsiaHaptics, Incheon, South Korea, November 2018 (misc)

Abstract

Large-scale tactile sensing is important for household robots and human-robot interaction because contacts can occur all over a robot’s body surface. This paper presents a new fabric-based tactile sensor that is straightforward to manufacture and can cover a large area. The tactile sensor is made of conductive and non-conductive fabric layers, and the electrodes are stitched with conductive thread, so the resulting device is flexible and stretchable. The sensor utilizes internal array electrodes and a reconstruction method called electrical resistance tomography (ERT) to achieve a high spatial resolution with a small number of electrodes. The developed sensor shows that only 16 electrodes can accurately estimate single and multiple contacts over a square that measures 20 cm by 20 cm.

hi Lee, H., Park, K., Kim, J., Kuchenbecker, K. J. A Large-Scale Fabric-Based Tactile Sensor Using Electrical Resistance Tomography Hands-on demonstration (3 pages) presented at AsiaHaptics, Incheon, South Korea, November 2018 (misc)

Project Page arXiv DOI [BibTex]

Motion-based Object Segmentation based on Dense RGB-D Scene Flow

Shao, L., Shah, P., Dwaracherla, V., Bohg, J.

IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 3(4):3797-3804, IEEE, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, October 2018 (conference)

Abstract

Given two consecutive RGB-D images, we propose a model that estimates a dense 3D motion field, also known as scene flow. We take advantage of the fact that in robot manipulation scenarios, scenes often consist of a set of rigidly moving objects. Our model jointly estimates (i) the segmentation of the scene into an unknown but finite number of objects, (ii) the motion trajectories of these objects and (iii) the object scene flow. We employ an hourglass, deep neural network architecture. In the encoding stage, the RGB and depth images undergo spatial compression and correlation. In the decoding stage, the model outputs three images containing a per-pixel estimate of the corresponding object center as well as object translation and rotation. This forms the basis for inferring the object segmentation and final object scene flow. To evaluate our model, we generated a new and challenging, large-scale, synthetic dataset that is specifically targeted at robotic manipulation: It contains a large number of scenes with a very diverse set of simultaneously moving 3D objects and is recorded with a commonly-used RGB-D camera. In quantitative experiments, we show that we significantly outperform state-of-the-art scene flow and motion-segmentation methods. In qualitative experiments, we show how our learned model transfers to challenging real-world scenes, visually generating significantly better results than existing methods.

am Shao, L., Shah, P., Dwaracherla, V., Bohg, J. Motion-based Object Segmentation based on Dense RGB-D Scene Flow IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 3(4):3797-3804, IEEE, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, October 2018 (conference)

Project Page arXiv DOI [BibTex]

Universal Custom Complex Magnetic Spring Design Methodology

Woodward, M. A., Sitti, M.

IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, 54(1):1-13, October 2018 (article)

Abstract

A design methodology is presented for creating custom complex magnetic springs through the design of force-displacement curves. This methodology results in a magnet configuration, which will produce a desired force-displacement relationship. Initially, the problem is formulated and solved as a system of linear equations. Then, given the limited likelihood of a single solution being feasibly manufactured, key parameters of the solution are extracted and varied to create a family of solutions. Finally, these solutions are refined using numerical optimization. Given the properties of magnets, this methodology can create any well-defined function of force versus displacement and is model-independent. To demonstrate this flexibility, a number of example magnetic springs are designed; one of which, designed for use in a jumping-gliding robot's shape memory alloy actuated clutch, is manufactured and experimentally characterized. Due to the scaling of magnetic forces, the displacement region which these magnetic springs are most applicable is that of millimeters and below. However, this region is well situated for miniature robots and smart material actuators, where a tailored magnetic spring, designed to compliment a component, can enhance its performance while adding new functionality. The methodology is also expendable to variable interactions and multi-dimensional magnetic field design.

pi Woodward, M. A., Sitti, M. Universal Custom Complex Magnetic Spring Design Methodology IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, 54(1):1-13, October 2018 (article)

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.

ics pf

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]

On the Integration of Optical Flow and Action Recognition

Sevilla-Lara, L., Liao, Y., Güney, F., Jampani, V., Geiger, A., Black, M. J.

In German Conference on Pattern Recognition (GCPR), LNCS 11269, pages: 281-297, Springer, Cham, October 2018 (inproceedings)

Abstract

Most of the top performing action recognition methods use optical flow as a "black box" input. Here we take a deeper look at the combination of flow and action recognition, and investigate why optical flow is helpful, what makes a flow method good for action recognition, and how we can make it better. In particular, we investigate the impact of different flow algorithms and input transformations to better understand how these affect a state-of-the-art action recognition method. Furthermore, we fine tune two neural-network flow methods end-to-end on the most widely used action recognition dataset (UCF101). Based on these experiments, we make the following five observations: 1) optical flow is useful for action recognition because it is invariant to appearance, 2) optical flow methods are optimized to minimize end-point-error (EPE), but the EPE of current methods is not well correlated with action recognition performance, 3) for the flow methods tested, accuracy at boundaries and at small displacements is most correlated with action recognition performance, 4) training optical flow to minimize classification error instead of minimizing EPE improves recognition performance, and 5) optical flow learned for the task of action recognition differs from traditional optical flow especially inside the human body and at the boundary of the body. These observations may encourage optical flow researchers to look beyond EPE as a goal and guide action recognition researchers to seek better motion cues, leading to a tighter integration of the optical flow and action recognition communities.

avg ps

arXiv DOI [BibTex]

avg ps Sevilla-Lara, L., Liao, Y., Güney, F., Jampani, V., Geiger, A., Black, M. J. On the Integration of Optical Flow and Action Recognition In German Conference on Pattern Recognition (GCPR), LNCS 11269, pages: 281-297, Springer, Cham, October 2018 (inproceedings)

arXiv DOI [BibTex]

Regularizing Reinforcement Learning with State Abstraction

Akrour, R., Veiga, F., Peters, J., Neuman, G.

Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), October 2018 (conference) Accepted

ei Akrour, R., Veiga, F., Peters, J., Neuman, G. Regularizing Reinforcement Learning with State Abstraction Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), October 2018 (conference) Accepted

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)

pdf Project Page [BibTex]

Towards Robust Visual Odometry with a Multi-Camera System

Liu, P., Geppert, M., Heng, L., Sattler, T., Geiger, A., Pollefeys, M.

In International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2018, International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, October 2018 (inproceedings)

Abstract

We present a visual odometry (VO) algorithm for a multi-camera system and robust operation in challenging environments. Our algorithm consists of a pose tracker and a local mapper. The tracker estimates the current pose by minimizing photometric errors between the most recent keyframe and the current frame. The mapper initializes the depths of all sampled feature points using plane-sweeping stereo. To reduce pose drift, a sliding window optimizer is used to refine poses and structure jointly. Our formulation is flexible enough to support an arbitrary number of stereo cameras. We evaluate our algorithm thoroughly on five datasets. The datasets were captured in different conditions: daytime, night-time with near-infrared (NIR) illumination and night-time without NIR illumination. Experimental results show that a multi-camera setup makes the VO more robust to challenging environments, especially night-time conditions, in which a single stereo configuration fails easily due to the lack of features.

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avg Liu, P., Geppert, M., Heng, L., Sattler, T., Geiger, A., Pollefeys, M. Towards Robust Visual Odometry with a Multi-Camera System In International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2018, International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, October 2018 (inproceedings)

pdf Project Page [BibTex]

Probabilistic Solutions To Ordinary Differential Equations As Non-Linear Bayesian Filtering: A New Perspective

Tronarp, F., Kersting, H., Särkkä, S., Hennig, P.

ArXiv preprint 2018, arXiv:1810.03440 [stat.ME], October 2018 (article)

Abstract

We formulate probabilistic numerical approximations to solutions of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) as problems in Gaussian process (GP) regression with non-linear measurement functions. This is achieved by defining the measurement sequence to consists of the observations of the difference between the derivative of the GP and the vector field evaluated at the GP---which are all identically zero at the solution of the ODE. When the GP has a state-space representation, the problem can be reduced to a Bayesian state estimation problem and all widely-used approximations to the Bayesian filtering and smoothing problems become applicable. Furthermore, all previous GP-based ODE solvers, which were formulated in terms of generating synthetic measurements of the vector field, come out as specific approximations. We derive novel solvers, both Gaussian and non-Gaussian, from the Bayesian state estimation problem posed in this paper and compare them with other probabilistic solvers in illustrative experiments.

pn Tronarp, F., Kersting, H., Särkkä, S., Hennig, P. Probabilistic Solutions To Ordinary Differential Equations As Non-Linear Bayesian Filtering: A New Perspective ArXiv preprint 2018, arXiv:1810.03440 [stat.ME], October 2018 (article)

Published Version link (url) DOI [BibTex]

Deep Neural Network-based Cooperative Visual Tracking through Multiple Micro Aerial Vehicles

Price, E., Lawless, G., Ludwig, R., Martinovic, I., Buelthoff, H. H., Black, M. J., Ahmad, A.

IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, Robotics and Automation Letters, 3(4):3193-3200, IEEE, October 2018, Also accepted and presented in the 2018 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS). (article)

Abstract

Multi-camera tracking of humans and animals in outdoor environments is a relevant and challenging problem. Our approach to it involves a team of cooperating micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) with on-board cameras only. DNNs often fail at objects with small scale or far away from the camera, which are typical characteristics of a scenario with aerial robots. Thus, the core problem addressed in this paper is how to achieve on-board, online, continuous and accurate vision-based detections using DNNs for visual person tracking through MAVs. Our solution leverages cooperation among multiple MAVs and active selection of most informative regions of image. We demonstrate the efficiency of our approach through simulations with up to 16 robots and real robot experiments involving two aerial robots tracking a person, while maintaining an active perception-driven formation. ROS-based source code is provided for the benefit of the community.

ps Price, E., Lawless, G., Ludwig, R., Martinovic, I., Buelthoff, H. H., Black, M. J., Ahmad, A. Deep Neural Network-based Cooperative Visual Tracking through Multiple Micro Aerial Vehicles IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, Robotics and Automation Letters, 3(4):3193-3200, IEEE, October 2018, Also accepted and presented in the 2018 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS). (article)

Published Version link (url) DOI [BibTex]

Learning to Categorize Bug Reports with LSTM Networks

Gondaliya, K., Peters, J., Rueckert, E.

Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Advances in System Testing and Validation Lifecycle (VALID), pages: 7-12, October 2018 (conference)

ei Gondaliya, K., Peters, J., Rueckert, E. Learning to Categorize Bug Reports with LSTM Networks Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Advances in System Testing and Validation Lifecycle (VALID), pages: 7-12, October 2018 (conference)

Domain Randomization for Simulation-Based Policy Optimization with Transferability Assessment

Muratore, F., Treede, F., Gienger, M., Peters, J.

2nd Annual Conference on Robot Learning (CoRL), 87, pages: 700-713, Proceedings of Machine Learning Research, PMLR, October 2018 (conference)

ei Muratore, F., Treede, F., Gienger, M., Peters, J. Domain Randomization for Simulation-Based Policy Optimization with Transferability Assessment 2nd Annual Conference on Robot Learning (CoRL), 87, pages: 700-713, Proceedings of Machine Learning Research, PMLR, October 2018 (conference)

Nanoscale robotic agents in biological fluids and tissues

Palagi, S., Walker, D. Q. T., Fischer, P.

In The Encyclopedia of Medical Robotics, 2, pages: 19-42, 2, (Editors: Desai, J. P. and Ferreira, A.), World Scientific, October 2018 (inbook)

Abstract

Nanorobots are untethered structures of sub-micron size that can be controlled in a non-trivial way. Such nanoscale robotic agents are envisioned to revolutionize medicine by enabling minimally invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. To be useful, nanorobots must be operated in complex biological fluids and tissues, which are often difficult to penetrate. In this chapter, we first discuss potential medical applications of motile nanorobots. We briefly present the challenges related to swimming at such small scales and we survey the rheological properties of some biological fluids and tissues. We then review recent experimental results in the development of nanorobots and in particular their design, fabrication, actuation, and propulsion in complex biological fluids and tissues. Recent work shows that their nanoscale dimension is a clear asset for operation in biological tissues, since many biological tissues consist of networks of macromolecules that prevent the passage of larger micron-scale structures, but contain dynamic pores through which nanorobots can move.

pf Palagi, S., Walker, D. Q. T., Fischer, P. Nanoscale robotic agents in biological fluids and tissues In The Encyclopedia of Medical Robotics, 2, pages: 19-42, 2, (Editors: Desai, J. P. and Ferreira, A.), World Scientific, October 2018 (inbook)

Reinforcement Learning of Phase Oscillators for Fast Adaptation to Moving Targets

Maeda, G., Koc, O., Morimoto, J.

Proceedings of The 2nd Conference on Robot Learning (CoRL), 87, pages: 630-640, (Editors: Aude Billard, Anca Dragan, Jan Peters, Jun Morimoto ), PMLR, October 2018 (conference)

ei Maeda, G., Koc, O., Morimoto, J. Reinforcement Learning of Phase Oscillators for Fast Adaptation to Moving Targets Proceedings of The 2nd Conference on Robot Learning (CoRL), 87, pages: 630-640, (Editors: Aude Billard, Anca Dragan, Jan Peters, Jun Morimoto ), PMLR, October 2018 (conference)