Publications related to Training Efficient Controllers via Analytic Policy Gradient

Related publications (36)

Preface: Advancing deep learning for remote sensing time series data analysis

This special issue explores the burgeoning field of deep learning for remote sensing time series analysis. The 20 contributed papers showcase diverse applications, including land cover mapping, change detection, atmospheric and biophysical/biochemical para ...

2025

Lattice Structure Musculoskeletal Robots: Harnessing Programmable Geometric Topology and Anisotropy

Josephine Anna Eleanor Hughes, Qinghua Guan, Benhui Dai, Hung Hon Cheng

Natural musculoskeletal systems combine soft tissues and rigid structures to achieve diverse mechanical behaviors that are both adaptive and precise. Inspired by these systems, we propose a programming method for designing bioinspired soft-rigid robotic st ...

AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE2025

Split weight distribution learning for binary neural networks exploiting nano-memristive graphene/sumanene/graphene devices

Alexandre Schmid

Research in artificial intelligence (AI) and neural network (NN) technologies has been boosted by recent hardware advances, while the emergence of self-synthesized materials such as nanocarbons has attracted much attention to overcome the limitations of Si ...

IOP Publishing Ltd2025

A gentle introduction to gradient-based optimization and variational inequalities for machine learning

Yatin Dandi

The rapid progress in machine learning in recent years has been based on a highly productive connection to gradient-based optimization. Further progress hinges in part on a shift in focus from pattern recognition to decision-making and multi-agent problems ...

2024

Distributed Predictive Formation Control of Autonomous Rotary-Wing Micro Aerial Vehicles

Izzet Kagan Erünsal

This doctoral thesis navigates the complex landscape of motion coordination and formation control within teams of rotary-wing Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs). Prompted by the intricate demands of real-world applications such as search and rescue or surveillan ...

EPFL2024

Scalable constrained optimization

Maria-Luiza Vladarean

Modern optimization is tasked with handling applications of increasingly large scale, chiefly due to the massive amounts of widely available data and the ever-growing reach of Machine Learning. Consequently, this area of research is under steady pressure t ...

EPFL2024

Memento Mori: Reliable robustness in self-reconfigurable modular robots

Kevin Andrew Holdcroft

Modular robotics link the reliability of a centralised system with the adaptivity of a decentralised system. It is difficult for a robot with a fixed shape to be able to perform many different types of tasks. As the task space grows, the number of functi ...

EPFL2024

Quantifying the Unknown: Data-Driven Approaches and Applications in Energy Systems

Paul Scharnhorst

In light of the challenges posed by climate change and the goals of the Paris Agreement, electricity generation is shifting to a more renewable and decentralized pattern, while the operation of systems like buildings is increasingly electrified. This calls ...

EPFL2024

Robot Learning using Tensor Networks

Suhan Narayana Shetty

In various robotics applications, the selection of function approximation methods greatly influences the feasibility and computational efficiency of algorithms. Tensor Networks (TNs), also referred to as tensor decomposition techniques, present a versatile ...

EPFL2024

An Iterative Adaptive Dynamic Programming Approach for Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram-Based Perimeter Control and Route Guidance

Nikolaos Geroliminis

Macroscopic fundamental diagrams (MFDs) have been widely adopted to model the traffic flow of large-scale urban networks. Coupling perimeter control and regional route guidance (PCRG) is a promising strategy to decrease congestion heterogeneity and reduce ...

Informs2024

A Biohybrid Superorganism - Investigating honeybees' collective behaviors via interactive robotics

Rafael Botner Barmak

Social insects, such as ants, termites, and honeybees, have evolved sophisticated societies where the collaborative efforts of "simple" individuals can lead to the emergence of complex dynamics. The reliance of each organism on the collective is so great t ...

EPFL2024

Gas Sensing with Rotary-Wing Nano Aerial Vehicles

Chiara Ercolani

Harmful chemical compounds are released daily in warehouses, chemical plants and during environmental emergencies. Their uncontrolled dispersion contributes to the pollution of the atmosphere and threatens human and animal lives. When gas leaks occur, the ...

EPFL2024

Accurate and agile flight with winged drones

Valentin Wüest

Drones hold promise to assist in civilian tasks. To realize this application, future drones must operate within large cities, covering large distances while navigating within cluttered urban landscapes. The increased efficiency of winged drones over rotary ...

EPFL2024

Quantifying the biomimicry gap in biohybrid robot-fish pairs

Francesco Mondada, Vaios Papaspyros

Biohybrid systems in which robotic lures interact with animals have become compelling tools for probing and identifying the mechanisms underlying collective animal behavior. One key challenge lies in the transfer of social interaction models from simulatio ...

2024

Sense in Motion with Belief Clustering: Efficient Gas Source Localization with Mobile Robots

Alcherio Martinoli, Wanting Jin

Given the patchy nature of gas plumes and the slow response of conventional gas sensors, the use of mobile robots for Gas Source Localization (GSL) tasks presents significant challenges. These aspects increase the difficulties in obtaining gas measurements ...

2024

Biohybrid Superorganisms—On the Design of a Robotic System for Thermal Interactions With Honeybee Colonies

Louis Arnaud Vahé Piotet, Francesco Mondada, Rafael Botner Barmak, Robert Matthew Mills, Raphael Cherfan

Social insects, such as ants, termites, and honeybees, have evolved sophisticated societies where collaboration and division of labor enhance survival of the whole colony, and are thus considered “superorganisms”. Historically, studying behaviors involving ...

2024

Efficient Continual Finite-Sum Minimization

Ioannis Mavrothalassitis, Volkan Cevher, Leello Tadesse Dadi, Efstratios Panteleimon Skoulakis

Given a sequence of functions

f_1,\ldots,f_n

with

f_i:\mathcal{D}\mapsto \mathbb{R}

, finite-sum minimization seeks a point

{x}^\star \in \mathcal{D}

minimizing

\sum_{j=1}^nf_j(x)/n

. In this work, we propose a key twist into the finite-sum minimizat ...

2024

Investigating neural resource allocation in the sensorimotor control of extra limbs

Giulia Dominijanni

The rise of robotic body augmentation brings forth new developments that will transform robotics, human-machine interaction, and wearable electronics. Extra robotic limbs, although building upon restorative technologies, bring their own set of challenges i ...

EPFL2024

Avoidance of Concave Obstacles Through Rotation of Nonlinear Dynamics

Aude Billard, Lukas Huber

Controlling complex tasks in robotic systems, such as circular motion for cleaning or following curvy lines, can be dealt with using nonlinear vector fields. This article introduces a novel approach called the rotational obstacle avoidance method (ROAM) fo ...

Ieee-Inst Electrical Electronics Engineers Inc2024

What can be learnt with wide convolutional neural networks?

Matthieu Wyart, Alessandro Favero, Francesco Cagnetta

Understanding how convolutional neural networks (CNNs) can efficiently learn high-dimensional functions remains a fundamental challenge. A popular belief is that these models harness the local and hierarchical structure of natural data such as images. Yet, ...

2024