Fully Bayesian Field Slam Using Gaussian Markov Random Fields

This paper presents a fully Bayesian way to solve the simultaneous localization and spatial prediction problem using a Gaussian Markov random field (GMRF) model. The objective is to simultaneously localize robotic sensors and predict a spatial field of interest using sequentially collected noisy observations by robotic sensors. The set of observations consists of the observed noisy positions of robotic sensing vehicles and noisy measurements of a spatial field. To be flexible, the spatial field of interest is modeled by a GMRF with uncertain hyperparameters. We derive an approximate Bayesian solution to the problem of computing the predictive inferences of the GMRF and the localization, taking into account observations, uncertain hyperparameters, measurement noise, kinematics of robotic sensors, and uncertain localization. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is illustrated by simulation results as well as by experiment results. The experiment results successfully show the flexibility and adaptability of our fully Bayesian approach in a data‐driven fashion.     

Distributed learning and cooperative control for multi-agent systems

This paper presents an algorithm and analysis of distributed learning and cooperative control for a multi-agent system so that a global goal of the overall system can be achieved by locally acting agents. We consider a resource-constrained multi-agent system, in which each agent has limited capabilities in terms of sensing, computation, and communication. The proposed algorithm is executed by each agent independently to estimate an unknown field of interest from noisy measurements and to coordinate multiple agents in a distributed manner to discover peaks of the unknown field. Each mobile agent maintains its own local estimate of the field and updates the estimate using collective measurements from itself and nearby agents. Each agent then moves towards peaks of the field using the gradient of its estimated field while avoiding collision and maintaining communication connectivity. The proposed algorithm is based on a recursive spatial estimation of an unknown field. We show that the closed-loop dynamics of the proposed multi-agent system can be transformed into a form of a stochastic approximation algorithm and prove its convergence using Ljung’s ordinary differential equation (ODE) approach. We also present extensive simulation results supporting our theoretical results.     

A spatially-constrained normalized Gamma process prior

In this work, we propose a novel nonparametric Bayesian method for clustering of data with spatial interdependencies. Specifically, we devise a novel normalized Gamma process, regulated by a simplified (pointwise) Markov random field (Gibbsian) distribution with a countably infinite number of states. As a result of its construction, the proposed model allows for introducing spatial dependencies in the clustering mechanics of the normalized Gamma process, thus yielding a novel nonparametric Bayesian method for spatial data clustering. We derive an efficient truncated variational Bayesian algorithm for model inference. We examine the efficacy of our approach by considering an image segmentation application using a real-world dataset. We show that our approach outperforms related methods from the field of Bayesian nonparametrics, including the infinite hidden Markov random field model, and the Dirichlet process prior.     

On empirical Bayes penalized quasi-likelihood inference in GLMMs and in Bayesian disease mapping and ecological modeling

Penalized quasi-likelihood(PQL) procedure for statistical inference in generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) and in Bayesian disease mapping and ecological modeling are revisited. In GLMM framework, empirical Bayes PQL (EBPQL) procedure is discussed in the context of approximating posterior point and interval prediction of random effects. An in-depth Monte Carlo assessment on EBPQL point and interval estimation of random effects, fixed effects, and prior parameters in univariate and bivariate (shared component) disease mapping and ecological models is presented, with illustrative examples including spatial and ecological modeling of infant mortality rates (relative uncommon events), suicide hospitalization rates (rare events) and suicide mortality rates (extremely rare events), and associated ecological risk factors in local health areas in British Columbia Canada. In particular, EBPQL interval prediction of random effects is explored by prediction uncertainty attributions with respect to uncertainties associated with estimation of random effects, fixed effects, and prior parameters. Estimation of percent attributions of EBPQL random effects prediction errors to prior uncertainty is developed in the context of GLMMs and explored in Bayesian disease mapping and ecological models, suggesting evidence that uncertainty about prior parameter(s) may have minor and negligible influence on EBPQL interval prediction of random effects in Bayesian hierarchical disease mapping and ecological modeling of moderate Poisson observations. The EBPQL inference procedure may be judiciously and profitably utilized in Bayesian disease mapping and ecological model development.     

一种优化的贝叶斯估计多传感器数据融合方法

由于来自多个传感器的测量数据总是有一定程度的不确定性和不一致性,采用多传感器数据融合算法将多个节点的测量数据进行数据融合,利用数据的冗余度来减小这种不确定性,得到高可靠性的数据信息。提出了一种优化的贝叶斯估计多传感器数据融合方法,将贝叶斯估计和卡尔曼滤波器结合起来,应用于无线传感网络数据融合中。根据滤波器应用到传感数据、融合数据或者两者的方式,提出3种不同的技术,即:前向滤波法、后向滤波法和前后向滤波法。通过一个实例研究估计移动机器人的位置,验证算法的有效性。实验表明,在集中式和分布式两个方面数据融合体系结构,结合卡尔曼滤波器的贝叶斯融合算法能够有效地解决数据的不确定性和不一致性。     

Intelligent and Efficient Strategy for Unstructured Environment Sensing Using Mobile Robot Agents

In field environments it is not usually possible to provide robots in advance with valid geometric models of its task and environment. The robot or robot teams need to create these models by scanning the environment with its sensors. Here, an information-based iterative algorithm to plan the robot's visual exploration strategy is proposed to enable it to most efficiently build 3D models of its environment and task. The method assumes mobile robot (or vehicle) with vision sensors mounted at a manipulator end-effector (eye-in-hand system). This algorithm efficiently repositions the systems' sensing agents using an information theoretic approach and fuses sensory information using physical models to yield a geometrically consistent environment map. This is achieved by utilizing a metric derived from Shannon's information theory to determine optimal sensing poses for the agent(s) mapping a highly unstructured environment. This map is then distributed among the agents using an information-based relevant data reduction scheme. This method is particularly well suited to unstructured environments, where sensor uncertainty is significant. Issues addressed include model-based multiple sensor data fusion, and uncertainty and vehicle suspension motion compensation. Simulation results show the effectiveness of this algorithm.     

The Bayesian evidence scheme for regularizing probability-density estimating neural networks

Training probability-density estimating neural networks with the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm aims to maximize the likelihood of the training set and therefore leads to overfitting for sparse data. In this article, a regularization method for mixture models with generalized linear kernel centers is proposed, which adopts the Bayesian evidence approach and optimizes the hyperparameters of the prior by type II maximum likelihood. This includes a marginalization over the parameters, which is done by Laplace approximation and requires the derivation of the Hessian of the log-likelihood function. The incorporation of this approach into the standard training scheme leads to a modified form of the EM algorithm, which includes a regularization term and adapts the hyperparameters on-line after each EM cycle. The article presents applications of this scheme to classification problems, the prediction of stochastic time series, and latent space models.     

Bayesian Gaussian process classification with the EM-EP algorithm

Gaussian process classifiers (GPCs) are Bayesian probabilistic kernel classifiers. In GPCs, the probability of belonging to a certain class at an input location is monotonically related to the value of some latent function at that location. Starting from a Gaussian process prior over this latent function, data are used to infer both the posterior over the latent function and the values of hyperparameters to determine various aspects of the function. Recently, the expectation propagation (EP) approach has been proposed to infer the posterior over the latent function. Based on this work, we present an approximate EM algorithm, the EM-EP algorithm, to learn both the latent function and the hyperparameters. This algorithm is found to converge in practice and provides an efficient Bayesian framework for learning hyperparameters of the kernel. A multiclass extension of the EM-EP algorithm for GPCs is also derived. In the experimental results, the EM-EP algorithms are as good or better than other methods for GPCs or support vector machines (SVMs) with cross-validation     

Chance-constrained target tracking using sensors with bounded fan-shaped sensing regions

We present a robust target tracking algorithm for a mobile robot. It is assumed that a mobile robot carries a sensor with a fan-shaped field of view and finite sensing range. The goal of the proposed tracking algorithm is to minimize the probability of losing a target. If the distribution of the next position of a moving target is available as a Gaussian distribution from a motion prediction algorithm, the proposed algorithm can guarantee the tracking success probability. In addition, the proposed method minimizes the moving distance of the mobile robot based on the chosen bound on the tracking success probability. While the considered problem is a non-convex optimization problem, we derive a closed-form solution when the heading is fixed and develop a real-time algorithm for solving the considered target tracking problem. We also present a robust target tracking algorithm for aerial robots in 3D. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated extensively in simulation. The proposed algorithm has been successful applied in field experiments using Pioneer mobile robot with a Microsoft Kinect sensor for following a pedestrian.     

基于改进随机森林算法的文本分类研究与应用

传统随机森林分类算法采用平均多数投票规则不能区分强弱分类器,而且算法中超参数的取值需要调节优化.在研究了随机森林算法在文本分类中的应用技术及其优缺点的基础上对其进行改进,一方面对投票方法进行优化,结合决策树的分类效果和预测概率进行加权投票,另一方面提出一种结合随机搜索和网格搜索的算法对超参数调节优化.Python环境下的实验结果表明本文方法在文本分类上具有良好的性能.