Efficient Optimization of Control Libraries

Abstract

A popular approach to high dimensional control problems in robotics uses a library of candidate maneuvers or trajectories [13, 28]. The library is either evaluated on a fixed number of candidate choices at runtime (e.g. path set selection for planning) or by iterating through a sequence of feasible choices until success is achieved (e.g. grasp selection). The performance of the library relies heavily on the content and order of the sequence of candidates. We propose a provably efficient method to optimize such libraries leveraging recent advances in optimizing sub-modular functions of sequences [29]. This approach is demonstrated on two important problems: mobile robot navigation and manipulator grasp set selection. In the first case, performance can be improved by choosing a subset of candidates which optimizes the metric under consideration (cost of traversal). In the second case, performance can be optimized by minimizing the depth the list is searched before a successful candidate is found. Our method can be used in both online and batch settings with provable performance guarantees, and can be run in an anytime manner to handle real-time constraints.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2011
Accession Number
ADA592141

Entities

People

  • Boris Sofman
  • Debadeepta Dey
  • Drew Bagnell
  • Tian Y. Liu

Organizations

  • Carnegie Mellon University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Autonomy

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Algorithms
  • Autonomous Navigation
  • Computations
  • Computer Programs
  • Control
  • Failure Mode And Effect Analysis
  • Motion Planning
  • Navigation
  • Optimization
  • Probability
  • Robot Navigation
  • Robotics
  • Robots
  • Sequences
  • Simulations
  • Trajectories
  • Unmanned Vehicles

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Parallel and Distributed Computing.
  • Robotics and Automation.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • AI & ML
  • AI & ML - Autonomous Systems
  • AI & ML - Machine Learning Algorithms
  • Autonomy