arXiv subjects

Marco Pavone

Publications and source records attributed to Marco Pavone.

At least 325 records · Page 18Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Multimodal Deep Generative Models for Trajectory Prediction: A Conditional Variational Autoencoder Approach

Human behavior prediction models enable robots to anticipate how humans may react to their actions, and hence are instrumental to devising safe and proactive robot planning algorithms. However, modeling complex interaction dynamics and capturing the possibility of many possible outcomes in such interactive settings is very challenging, which has recently prompted the study of several different approaches. In this work, we provide a self-contained tutorial on a conditional variational autoencoder (CVAE) approach to human behavior prediction which, at its core, can produce a multimodal probability distribution over future human trajectories conditioned on past interactions and candidate robot future actions. Specifically, the goals of this tutorial paper are to review and build a taxonomy of state-of-the-art methods in human behavior prediction, from physics-based to purely data-driven methods, provide a rigorous yet easily accessible description of a data-driven, CVAE-based approach, highlight important design characteristics that make this an attractive model to use in the context of model-based planning for human-robot interactions, and provide important design considerations when using this class of models.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2020

Sampling-based Reachability Analysis: A Random Set Theory Approach with Adversarial Sampling

Reachability analysis is at the core of many applications, from neural network verification, to safe trajectory planning of uncertain systems. However, this problem is notoriously challenging, and current approaches tend to be either too restrictive, too slow, too conservative, or approximate and therefore lack guarantees. In this paper, we propose a simple yet effective sampling-based approach to perform reachability analysis for arbitrary dynamical systems. Our key novel idea consists of using random set theory to give a rigorous interpretation of our method, and prove that it returns sets which are guaranteed to converge to the convex hull of the true reachable sets. Additionally, we leverage recent work on robust deep learning and propose a new adversarial sampling approach to robustify our algorithm and accelerate its convergence. We demonstrate that our method is faster and less conservative than prior work, present results for approximate reachability analysis of neural networks and robust trajectory optimization of high-dimensional uncertain nonlinear systems, and discuss future applications.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2020

Task-relevant Representation Learning for Networked Robotic Perception

Today, even the most compute-and-power constrained robots can measure complex, high data-rate video and LIDAR sensory streams. Often, such robots, ranging from low-power drones to space and subterranean rovers, need to transmit high-bitrate sensory data to a remote compute server if they are uncertain or cannot scalably run complex perception or mapping tasks locally. However, today's representations for sensory data are mostly designed for human, not robotic, perception and thus often waste precious compute or wireless network resources to transmit unimportant parts of a scene that are unnecessary for a high-level robotic task. This paper presents an algorithm to learn task-relevant representations of sensory data that are co-designed with a pre-trained robotic perception model's ultimate objective. Our algorithm aggressively compresses robotic sensory data by up to 11x more than competing methods. Further, it achieves high accuracy and robust generalization on diverse tasks including Mars terrain classification with low-power deep learning accelerators, neural motion planning, and environmental timeseries classification.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2020

Continuous Meta-Learning without Tasks

Meta-learning is a promising strategy for learning to efficiently learn within new tasks, using data gathered from a distribution of tasks. However, the meta-learning literature thus far has focused on the task segmented setting, where at train-time, offline data is assumed to be split according to the underlying task, and at test-time, the algorithms are optimized to learn in a single task. In this work, we enable the application of generic meta-learning algorithms to settings where this task segmentation is unavailable, such as continual online learning with a time-varying task. We present meta-learning via online changepoint analysis (MOCA), an approach which augments a meta-learning algorithm with a differentiable Bayesian changepoint detection scheme. The framework allows both training and testing directly on time series data without segmenting it into discrete tasks. We demonstrate the utility of this approach on a nonlinear meta-regression benchmark as well as two meta-image-classification benchmarks.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2020

Online Hypergraph Matching with Delays

We study an online hypergraph matching problem with delays, motivated by ridesharing applications. In this model, users enter a marketplace sequentially, and are willing to wait up to $d$ timesteps to be matched, after which they will leave the system in favor of an outside option. A platform can match groups of up to $k$ users together, indicating that they will share a ride. Each group of users yields a match value depending on how compatible they are with one another. As an example, in ridesharing, $k$ is the capacity of the service vehicles, and $d$ is the amount of time a user is willing to wait for a driver to be matched to them. We present results for both the utility maximization and cost minimization variants of the problem. In the utility maximization setting, the optimal competitive ratio is $\frac{1}{d}$ whenever $k \geq 3$, and is achievable in polynomial-time for any fixed $k$. In the cost minimization variation, when $k = 2$, the optimal competitive ratio for deterministic algorithms is $\frac{3}{2}$ and is achieved by a polynomial-time thresholding algorithm. When $k>2$, we show that a polynomial-time randomized batching algorithm is $(2 - \frac{1}{d}) \log k$-competitive, and it is NP-hard to achieve a competitive ratio better than $\log k - O (\log \log k)$.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2020

Risk-Sensitive Sequential Action Control with Multi-Modal Human Trajectory Forecasting for Safe Crowd-Robot Interaction

This paper presents a novel online framework for safe crowd-robot interaction based on risk-sensitive stochastic optimal control, wherein the risk is modeled by the entropic risk measure. The sampling-based model predictive control relies on mode insertion gradient optimization for this risk measure as well as Trajectron++, a state-of-the-art generative model that produces multimodal probabilistic trajectory forecasts for multiple interacting agents. Our modular approach decouples the crowd-robot interaction into learning-based prediction and model-based control, which is advantageous compared to end-to-end policy learning methods in that it allows the robot's desired behavior to be specified at run time. In particular, we show that the robot exhibits diverse interaction behavior by varying the risk sensitivity parameter. A simulation study and a real-world experiment show that the proposed online framework can accomplish safe and efficient navigation while avoiding collisions with more than 50 humans in the scene.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2020

Error Bounds for Reduced Order Model Predictive Control

Model predictive control is a powerful framework for enabling optimal control of constrained systems. However, for systems that are described by high-dimensional state spaces this framework can be too computationally demanding for real-time control. Reduced order model predictive control (ROMPC) frameworks address this issue by leveraging model reduction techniques to compress the state space model used in the online optimal control problem. While this can enable real-time control by decreasing the online computational requirements, these model reductions introduce approximation errors that must be accounted for to guarantee constraint satisfaction and closed-loop stability for the controlled high-dimensional system. In this work we propose an offline methodology for efficiently computing error bounds arising from model reduction, and show how they can be used to guarantee constraint satisfaction in a previously proposed ROMPC framework. This work considers linear, discrete, time-invariant systems that are compressed by Petrov-Galerkin projections, and considers output-feedback settings where the system is also subject to bounded disturbances.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2020

Planning and Operations of Mixed Fleets in Mobility-on-Demand Systems

Automated vehicles (AVs) are expected to be beneficial for Mobility-on-Demand (MoD), thanks to their ability of being globally coordinated. To facilitate the steady transition towards full autonomy, we consider the transition period of AV deployment, whereby an MoD system operates a mixed fleet of automated vehicles (AVs) and human-driven vehicles (HVs). In such systems, AVs are centrally coordinated by the operator, and the HVs might strategically respond to the coordination of AVs. We devise computationally tractable strategies to coordinate mixed fleets in MoD systems. Specifically, we model an MoD system with a mixed fleet using a Stackelberg framework where the MoD operator serves as the leader and human-driven vehicles serve as the followers. We develop two models: 1) a steady-state model to analyze the properties of the problem and determine the planning variables (e.g., compensations, prices, and the fleet size of AVs), and 2) a time-varying model to design a real-time coordination algorithm for AVs. The proposed models are validated using a case study inspired by real operational data of a MoD service in Singapore. Results show that the proposed algorithms can significantly improve system performance.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2020

Infusing Reachability-Based Safety into Planning and Control for Multi-agent Interactions

Within a robot autonomy stack, the planner and controller are typically designed separately, and serve different purposes. As such, there is often a diffusion of responsibilities when it comes to ensuring safety for the robot. We propose that a planner and controller should share the same interpretation of safety but apply this knowledge in a different yet complementary way. To achieve this, we use Hamilton-Jacobi (HJ) reachability theory at the planning level to provide the robot planner with the foresight to avoid entering regions with possible inevitable collision. However, this alone does not guarantee safety. In conjunction with this HJ reachability-infused planner, we propose a minimally-interventional multi-agent safety-preserving controller also derived via HJ-reachability theory. The safety controller maintains safety for the robot without unduly impacting planner performance. We demonstrate the benefits of our proposed approach in a multi-agent highway scenario where a robot car is rewarded to navigate through traffic as fast as possible, and we show that our approach provides strong safety assurances yet achieves the highest performance compared to other safety controllers.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2020

Risk-sensitive safety specifications for stochastic systems using Conditional Value-at-Risk

This paper proposes a safety analysis method that facilitates a tunable balance between the worst-case and risk-neutral perspectives. First, we define a risk-sensitive safe set to specify the degree of safety attained by a stochastic system. This set is defined as a sublevel set of the solution to an optimal control problem that is expressed using the Conditional Value-at-Risk (CVaR) measure. This problem does not satisfy Bellman's Principle, thus our next contribution is to show how risk-sensitive safe sets can be under-approximated by the solution to a CVaR-Markov Decision Process. We adopt an existing value iteration algorithm to find an approximate solution to the reduced problem for a class of linear systems. Then, we develop a realistic numerical example of a stormwater system to show that this approach can be applied to non-linear systems. Finally, we compare the CVaR criterion to the exponential disutility criterion. The latter allocates control effort evenly across the cost distribution to reduce variance, while the CVaR criterion focuses control effort on a given worst-case quantile--where it matters most for safety.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2020

Soft Tensegrity Systems for Planetary Landing and Exploration

During the last decade, tensegrity systems have been the focus of numerous investigations exploring the possibility of adopting them for planetary landing and exploration applications. Early approaches mainly focused on locomotion aspects related to tensegrity systems, where mobility was achieved by actuating the cable members of the system. Later efforts focused on understanding energy storage mechanisms of tensegrity systems undergoing landing events. More precisely, it was shown that under highly dynamic events, buckling of individual members of a tensegrity structure does not necessarily imply structural failure, suggesting that efficient structural design of planetary landers could be achieved by allowing its compression members to buckle. In this work, we combine both aspects of previous research on tensegrity structures, showing a possible lattice-like structural configuration able to withstand impact events, store pre-impact kinetic energy, and utilize a part of that energy for the locomotion process. Our work shows the feasibility of this proposed approach via both experimental and computational means.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2020

Towards a Co-Design Framework for Future Mobility Systems

The design of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) and the design of AVs-enabled mobility systems are closely coupled. Indeed, knowledge about the intended service of AVs would impact their design and deployment process, whilst insights about their technological development could significantly affect transportation management decisions. This calls for tools to study such a coupling and co-design AVs and AVs-enabled mobility systems in terms of different objectives. In this paper, we instantiate a framework to address such co-design problems. In particular, we leverage the recently developed theory of co-design to frame and solve the problem of designing and deploying an intermodal Autonomous Mobility-on-Demand system, whereby AVs service travel demands jointly with public transit, in terms of fleet sizing, vehicle autonomy, and public transit service frequency. Our framework is modular and compositional, allowing to describe the design problem as the interconnection of its individual components and to tackle it from a system-level perspective. Moreover, it only requires very general monotonicity assumptions and it naturally handles multiple objectives, delivering the rational solutions on the Pareto front and thus enabling policy makers to select a solution through political criteria. To showcase our methodology, we present a real-world case study for Washington D.C., USA. Our work suggests that it is possible to create user-friendly optimization tools to systematically assess the costs and benefits of interventions, and that such analytical techniques might gain a momentous role in policy-making in the future.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2020

Revisiting the Asymptotic Optimality of RRT$^*$

RRT* is one of the most widely used sampling-based algorithms for asymptotically-optimal motion planning. This algorithm laid the foundations for optimality in motion planning as a whole, and inspired the development of numerous new algorithms in the field, many of which build upon RRT* itself. In this paper, we first identify a logical gap in the optimality proof of RRT*, which was developed in Karaman and Frazzoli (2011). Then, we present an alternative and mathematically-rigorous proof for asymptotic optimality. Our proof suggests that the connection radius used by RRT* should be increased from $γ\left(\frac{\log n}{n}\right)^{1/d}$ to $γ' \left(\frac{\log n}{n}\right)^{1/(d+1)}$ in order to account for the additional dimension of time that dictates the samples' ordering. Here $γ$, $γ'$, are constants, and $n$, $d$, are the number of samples and the dimension of the problem, respectively.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2020

The Shapeshifter: a Morphing, Multi-Agent,Multi-Modal Robotic Platform for the Exploration of Titan (preprint version)

In this report for the Nasa NIAC Phase I study, we present a mission architecture and a robotic platform, the Shapeshifter, that allow multi-domain and redundant mobility on Saturn's moon Titan, and potentially other bodies with atmospheres. The Shapeshifter is a collection of simple and affordable robotic units, called Cobots, comparable to personal palm-size quadcopters. By attaching and detaching with each other, multiple Cobots can shape-shift into novel structures, capable of (a) rolling on the surface, to increase the traverse range, (b) flying in a flight array formation, and (c) swimming on or under liquid. A ground station complements the robotic platform, hosting science instrumentation and providing power to recharge the batteries of the Cobots. Our Phase I study had the objective of providing an initial assessment of the feasibility of the proposed robotic platform architecture, and in particular (a) to characterize the expected science return of a mission to the Sotra-Patera region on Titan; (b) to verify the mechanical and algorithmic feasibility of building a multi-agent platform capable of flying, docking, rolling and un-docking; (c) to evaluate the increased range and efficiency of rolling on Titan w.r.t to flying; (d) to define a case-study of a mission for the exploration of the cryovolcano Sotra-Patera on Titan, whose expected variety of geological features challenges conventional mobility platforms.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2020

Congestion-aware Routing and Rebalancing of Autonomous Mobility-on-Demand Systems in Mixed Traffic

This paper studies congestion-aware route-planning policies for Autonomous Mobility-on-Demand (AMoD) systems, whereby a fleet of autonomous vehicles provides on-demand mobility under mixed traffic conditions. Specifically, we first devise a network flow model to optimize the AMoD routing and rebalancing strategies in a congestion-aware fashion by accounting for the endogenous impact of AMoD flows on travel time. Second, we capture reactive exogenous traffic consisting of private vehicles selfishly adapting to the AMoD flows in a user-centric fashion by leveraging an iterative approach. Finally, we showcase the effectiveness of our framework with two case-studies considering the transportation sub-networks in Eastern Massachusetts and New York City. Our results suggest that for high levels of demand, pure AMoD travel can be detrimental due to the additional traffic stemming from its rebalancing flows, while the combination of AMoD with walking or micromobility options can significantly improve the overall system performance.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2020

On Local Computation for Optimization in Multi-Agent Systems

A number of prototypical optimization problems in multi-agent systems (e.g., task allocation and network load-sharing) exhibit a highly local structure: that is, each agent's decision variables are only directly coupled to few other agent's variables through the objective function or the constraints. Nevertheless, existing algorithms for distributed optimization generally do not exploit the locality structure of the problem, requiring all agents to compute or exchange the full set of decision variables. In this paper, we develop a rigorous notion of "locality" that quantifies the degree to which agents can compute their portion of the global solution based solely on information in their local neighborhood. This notion provides a theoretical basis for a rather simple algorithm in which agents individually solve a truncated sub-problem of the global problem, where the size of the sub-problem used depends on the locality of the problem, and the desired accuracy. Numerical results show that the proposed theoretical bounds are remarkably tight for well-conditioned problems.

cs.MA↗

arXiv2020

A Simple and Efficient Tube-based Robust Output Feedback Model Predictive Control Scheme

The control of constrained systems using model predictive control (MPC) becomes more challenging when full state information is not available and when the nominal system model and measurements are corrupted by noise. Since these conditions are often seen in practical scenarios, techniques such as robust output feedback MPC have been developed to address them. However, existing approaches to robust output feedback MPC are challenged by increased complexity of the online optimization problem, increased computational requirements for controller synthesis, or both. In this work we present a simple and efficient methodology for synthesizing a tube-based robust output feedback MPC scheme for linear, discrete, time-invariant systems subject to bounded, additive disturbances. Specifically, we first formulate a scheme where the online MPC optimization problem has the same complexity as in the nominal full state feedback MPC by using a single tube with constant cross-section. This makes our proposed approach simpler to implement and less computationally demanding than previous methods for both online implementation and offline controller synthesis. Secondly, we propose a novel and simple procedure for the computation of robust positively invariant (RPI) sets that are approximations of the minimal RPI set, which can be used to define the tube in the proposed control scheme.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2020

Shapeshifter: A Multi-Agent, Multi-Modal Robotic Platform for Exploration of Titan

In this paper we present a mission architecture and a robotic platform, the Shapeshifter, that allow multi-domain and redundant mobility on Saturn's moon Titan, and potentially other bodies with atmospheres. The Shapeshifter is a collection of simple and affordable robotic units, called Cobots, comparable to personal palm-size quadcopters. By attaching and detaching with each other, multiple Cobots can shape-shift into novel structures, capable of (a) rolling on the surface, to increase the traverse range, (b) flying in a flight array formation, and (c) swimming on or under liquid. A ground station complements the robotic platform, hosting science instrumentation and providing power to recharge the batteries of the Cobots. In the first part of this paper we experimentally show the flying, docking and rolling capabilities of a Shapeshifter constituted by two Cobots, presenting ad-hoc control algorithms. We additionally evaluate the energy-efficiency of the rolling-based mobility strategy by deriving an analytic model of the power consumption and by integrating it in a high-fidelity simulation environment. In the second part we tailor our mission architecture to the exploration of Titan. We show that the properties of the Shapeshifter allow the exploration of the possible cryovolcano Sotra Patera, Titan's Mare and canyons.

cs.RO↗