Probability Distributions.- Linear Models for Regression.- Linear Models for Classification.- Neural Networks.- Kernel Methods.- Sparse Kernel Machines.- Graphical Models.- Mixture Models and EM.- Approximate Inference.- Sampling Methods.- Continuous Latent Variables.- Sequential Data.- Combining Models.

Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning

We present CasADi, an open-source software framework for numerical optimization. CasADi is a general-purpose tool that can be used to model and solve optimization problems with a large degree of flexibility, larger than what is associated with popular algebraic modeling languages such as AMPL, GAMS, JuMP or Pyomo. Of special interest are problems constrained by differential equations, i.e. optimal control problems. CasADi is written in self-contained C++, but is most conveniently used via full-featured interfaces to Python, MATLAB or Octave. Since its inception in late 2009, it has been used successfully for academic teaching as well as in applications from multiple fields, including process control, robotics and aerospace. This article gives an up-to-date and accessible introduction to the CasADi framework, which has undergone numerous design improvements over the last 7 years.

/pdf/casadi-a-software-framework-for-nonlinear-optimization-and-ddx9m9nls6.pdf

CasADi: a software framework for nonlinear optimization and optimal control

In this paper, we survey the field of robotic grasping and the work that has been done in this area over the last two decades, with a slight bias toward the development of the theoretical framework and analytical results in this area.

Robotic grasping and contact: a review

In this paper, an attempt at summarizing the evolution and the state of the art in the field of robot hands is made. In such exposition, a critical evaluation of what in the author's view are the leading ideas and emerging trends is privileged with respect to exhaustiveness of citations. The survey is focused mainly on three types of functional requirements a machine hand can be assigned in an artificial system, namely, manipulative dexterity, grasp robustness, and human operability. A basic distinction is made between hands designed for mimicking the human anatomy and physiology,and hands designed to meet restricted, practical requirements. In the latter domain, arguments are presented in favor of a -minimalistic" attitude in the design of hands for practical applications, i.e., use the least number of actuators, the simplest set of sensors, etc., for a given task. To achieve this rather obvious engineering goal is a challenge to our community. The paper illustrates some of the new sometimes difficult, problems that are brought about by building and controlling simpler, more practical devices.

/pdf/hands-for-dexterous-manipulation-and-robust-grasping-a-507g47znm9.pdf

Hands for dexterous manipulation and robust grasping: a difficult road toward simplicity

In this paper, a new version of the quadrature Kalman filter (QKF) is developed theoretically and tested experimentally. We first derive the new QKF for nonlinear systems with additive Gaussian noise by linearizing the process and measurement functions using statistical linear regression (SLR) through a set of Gauss-Hermite quadrature points that parameterize the Gaussian density. Moreover, we discuss how the new QKF can be extended and modified to take into account specific details of a given application. We then go on to extend the use of the new QKF to discrete-time, nonlinear systems with additive, possibly non-Gaussian noise. A bank of parallel QKFs, called the Gaussian sum-quadrature Kalman filter (GS-QKF) approximates the predicted and posterior densities as a finite number of weighted sums of Gaussian densities. The weights are obtained from the residuals of the QKFs. Three different Gaussian mixture reduction techniques are presented to alleviate the growing number of the Gaussian sum terms inherent to the GS-QKFs. Simulation results exhibit a significant improvement of the GS-QKFs over other nonlinear filtering approaches, namely, the basic bootstrap (particle) filters and Gaussian-sum extended Kalman filters, to solve nonlinear non- Gaussian filtering problems.

http://soma.mcmaster.ca/papers/Paper_2.pdf

Discrete-Time Nonlinear Filtering Algorithms Using Gauss–Hermite Quadrature

An integrated friction model structure with improved presliding behaviour for accurate friction compensation

The Kalman filter is a well-known recursive state estimator for linear systems. In practice, the algorithm is often used for non-linear systems by linearizing the system's process and measurement models. Different ways of linearizing the models lead to different filters. In some applications, these ‘Kalman filter variants’ seem to perform well, while for other applications they are useless. When choosing a filter for a new application, the literature gives us little to rely on. This paper tries to bridge the gap between the theoretical derivation of a Kalman filter variant and its performance in practice when applied to a non-linear system, by providing an application-independent analysis of the performances of the common Kalman filter variants.  Correlated uncertainties can be dealt with by augmenting the state vector, this is the original formulation of the KF (Kalman 1960). Expressed in this new state vector, the process and measurement models are of the form (1) and (2) with uncorrelated uncertainties...

Kalman filters for non-linear systems: a comparison of performance

This paper introduces a systematic constraint-based approach to specify complex tasks of general sensor-based robot systems consisting of rigid links and joints. The approach integrates both instantaneous task specification and estimation of geometric uncertainty in a unified framework. Major components are the use of feature coordinates, defined with respect to object and feature frames, which facilitate the task specification, and the introduction of uncertainty coordinates to model geometric uncertainty. While the focus of the paper is on task specification, an existing velocity- based control scheme is reformulated in terms of these feature and uncertainty coordinates. This control scheme compensates for the effect of time varying uncertainty coordinates. Constraint weighting results in an invariant robot behavior in case of conflicting constraints with heterogeneous units. The approach applies to a large variety of robot systems (mobile robots, multiple robot systems, dynamic human-robot interaction, etc.), various sensor systems, and different robot tasks. Ample simulation and experimental results are presented.

/pdf/constraint-based-task-specification-and-estimation-for-3vmssjxedi.pdf

Joris De Schutter

Papers

An integrated friction model structure with improved presliding behaviour for accurate friction compensation

Kalman filters for non-linear systems: a comparison of performance

Constraint-based Task Specification and Estimation for Sensor-Based Robot Systems in the Presence of Geometric Uncertainty

Brief paper: Robust high-order repetitive control: Optimal performance trade-offs

An adaptable system for RGB-D based human body detection and pose estimation