Example‐based Authoring of Procedural Modeling Programs with Structural and Continuous Variability

Procedural models are a powerful tool for quickly creating a variety of computer graphics content. However, authoring them is challenging, requiring both programming and artistic expertise. In this paper, we present a method for learning procedural models from a small number of example objects. We focus on the modular design setting, where objects are constructed from a common library of parts. Our procedural representation is a probabilistic program that models both the discrete, hierarchical structure of the examples as well as the continuous variability in their spatial arrangements of parts. We develop an algorithm for learning such programs from examples, using combinatorial search over program structures and variational inference to estimate continuous program parameters. We evaluate our method by demonstrating its ability to learn programs from examples of ornamental designs, spaceships, space stations, and castles. Experiments suggest that our learned programs can reliably generate a variety of new objects that are perceptually indistinguishable from hand‐crafted examples.     

IAda: A language for robot programming based on Ada

We present a programming language for robots which we have implemented based on the Ada language. It is an interpreted language which permits dynamic configuration of software. It manipulates Ada tasks and subroutines. One of the Ada tasks is an inference engine of a logic programming language adapted to real-time constraints. We show how the conjunction of Ada tasks, to perform perception and action functions on the robot, to logic programs, for the control of these tasks, both manipulated by the IAda language, gives a powerful environment for robot programming.     

基于多源信息融合的协作机器人演示编程及优化方法

为解决现有机器人装配学习过程复杂且对编程技术要求高等问题,提出一种基于前臂表面肌电信号和惯性多源信息融合的隐式交互方式来实现机器人演示编程.在通过演示学习获得演示人的装配经验的基础上,为提高对装配对象和环境变化的自适应能力,提出了一种多工深度确定性策略梯度算法（M-DDPG）来修正装配参数,在演示编程的基础上,进行强化学习确保机器人稳定执行任务.在演示编程实验中,提出一种改进的PCNN（并行卷积神经网络）,称作1维PCNN（1D-PCNN）,即通过1维的卷积与池化过程自动提取惯性信息与肌电信息特征,增强了手势识别的泛化性和准确率;在演示再现实验中,采用高斯混合模型（GMM）对演示数据进行统计编码,利用高斯混合回归（GMR）方法实现机器人轨迹动作再现,消除噪声点.最后,基于Primesense Carmine摄像机采用帧差法与多特征图核相关滤波算法（MKCF）的融合跟踪算法分别获取X轴与Y轴方向的环境变化,采用2个相同的网络结构并行进行连续过程的深度强化学习.在轴孔相对位置变化的情况下,机械臂能根据强化学习得到的泛化策略模型自动对机械臂末端位置进行调整,实现轴孔装配的演示学习.     

基于多约束条件的机器人抓取策略学习方法

针对机器人在多类别物体不同任务下的抓取决策问题,提出基于多约束条件的抓取策略学习方法.该方法以抓取对象特征和抓取任务属性为机器人抓取策略约束,通过映射人类抓取习惯规划抓取模式,并采用物体方向包围盒(OBB)建立机器人抓取规则,建立多约束条件的抓取模型.利用深度径向基(DRBF)网络模型结合减聚类算法(SCM)实现抓取策略的学习,两种算法的结合旨在提高学习鲁棒性与精确性.搭建以Refiex 1型灵巧手和AUBO六自由度机械臂组成的实验平台,对多类别物体进行抓取实验.实验结果表明,所提出方法使机器人有效学习到对多物体不同任务的最优抓取策略,具有良好的抓取决策能力.     

Grasp programming by demonstration in virtual reality with automatic environment reconstruction

A virtual reality system enabling high-level programming of robot grasps is described. The system is designed to support programming by demonstration (PbD), an approach aimed at simplifying robot programming and empowering even unexperienced users with the ability to easily transfer knowledge to a robotic system. Programming robot grasps from human demonstrations requires an analysis phase, comprising learning and classification of human grasps, as well as a synthesis phase, where an appropriate human-demonstrated grasp is imitated and adapted to a specific robotic device and object to be grasped. The virtual reality system described in this paper supports both phases, thereby enabling end-to-end imitation-based programming of robot grasps. Moreover, as in the PbD approach robot environment interactions are no longer explicitly programmed, the system includes a method for automatic environment reconstruction that relieves the designer from manually editing the pose of the objects in the scene and enables intelligent manipulation. A workspace modeling technique based on monocular vision and computation of edge-face graphs is proposed. The modeling algorithm works in real time and supports registration of multiple views. Object recognition and workspace reconstruction features, along with grasp analysis and synthesis, have been tested in simulated tasks involving 3D user interaction and programming of assembly operations. Experiments reported in the paper assess the capabilities of the three main components of the system: the grasp recognizer, the vision-based environment modeling system, and the grasp synthesizer.     

Research on task decomposition and state abstraction in reinforcement learning

Task decomposition and State abstraction are crucial parts in reinforcement learning. It allows an agent to ignore aspects of its current states that are irrelevant to its current decision, and therefore speeds up dynamic programming and learning. This paper presents the SVI algorithm that uses a dynamic Bayesian network model to construct an influence graph that indicates relationships between state variables. SVI performs state abstraction for each subtask by ignoring irrelevant state variables and lower level subtasks. Experiment results show that the decomposition of tasks introduced by SVI can significantly accelerate constructing a near-optimal policy. This general framework can be applied to a broad spectrum of complex real world problems such as robotics, industrial manufacturing, games and others.     

PC-based off-line programming in the shipbuilding industry: open architecture

In this paper, a PC-based off-line programming (OLP) method using the virtual reality modeling language is proposed. The developed OLP system consists of simulation programs, a block-arrangement algorithm, an optimal traveling-path generation algorithm, an automatic robot program generator and the TRIBON CAD interface. The strength of the developed PC-based OLP system lies in its flexibility in handling the changes in the robot's target objects. The operator can generate robot programs very easily and quickly. Possible applications of the developed OLP can be extended to port automation, container loading/unloading processes as well as painting and grinding processes in the shipbuilding industry.     

Active learning of visual descriptors for grasping using non-parametric smoothed beta distributions

One of the basic skills for a robot autonomous grasping is to select the appropriate grasping point for an object. Several recent works have shown that it is possible to learn grasping points from different types of features extracted from a single image or from more complex 3D reconstructions. In the context of learning through experience, this is very convenient, since it does not require a full reconstruction of the object and implicitly incorporates kinematic constraints as the hand morphology. These learning strategies usually require a large set of labeled examples which can be expensive to obtain. In this paper, we address the problem of actively learning good grasping points to reduce the number of examples needed by the robot. The proposed algorithm computes the probability of successfully grasping an object at a given location represented by a feature vector. By autonomously exploring different feature values on different objects, the systems learn where to grasp each of the objects. The algorithm combines beta–binomial distributions and a non-parametric kernel approach to provide the full distribution for the probability of grasping. This information allows to perform an active exploration that efficiently learns good grasping points even among different objects. We tested our algorithm using a real humanoid robot that acquired the examples by experimenting directly on the objects and, therefore, it deals better with complex (anthropomorphic) hand–object interactions whose results are difficult to model, or predict. The results show a smooth generalization even in the presence of very few data as is often the case in learning through experience.     

Improving human robot collaboration through Force/Torque based learning for object manipulation

Human–Robot Collaboration (HRC) is a term used to describe tasks in which robots and humans work together to achieve a goal. Unlike traditional industrial robots, collaborative robots need to be adaptive; able to alter their approach to better suit the situation and the needs of the human partner. As traditional programming techniques can struggle with the complexity required, an emerging approach is to learn a skill by observing human demonstration and imitating the motions; commonly known as Learning from Demonstration (LfD). In this work, we present a LfD methodology that combines an ensemble machine learning algorithm (i.e. Random Forest (RF)) with stochastic regression, using haptic information captured from human demonstration. The capabilities of the proposed method are evaluated using two collaborative tasks; co-manipulation of an object (where the human provides the guidance but the robot handles the objects weight) and collaborative assembly of simple interlocking parts. The proposed method is shown to be capable of imitation learning; interpreting human actions and producing equivalent robot motion across a diverse range of initial and final conditions. After verifying that ensemble machine learning can be utilised for real robotics problems, we propose a further extension utilising Weighted Random Forest (WRF) that attaches weights to each tree based on its performance. It is then shown that the WRF approach outperforms RF in HRC tasks.     

自主机器人的强化学习研究进展

虽然基于行为控制的自主机器人具有较高的鲁棒性,但其对于动态环境缺乏必要的自 适应能力．强化学习方法使机器人可以通过学习来完成任务,而无需设计者完全预先规定机 器人的所有动作,它是将动态规划和监督学习结合的基础上发展起来的一种新颖的学习方法 ,它通过机器人与环境的试错交互,利用来自成功和失败经验的奖励和惩罚信号不断改进机 器人的性能,从而达到目标,并容许滞后评价．由于其解决复杂问题的突出能力,强化学习 已成为一种非常有前途的机器人学习方法．本文系统论述了强化学习方法在自主机器人中的 研究现状,指出了存在的问题,分析了几种问题解决途径,展望了未来发展趋势．     

Active Learning for Vision-Based Robot Grasping

Reliable vision-based grasping has proved elusive outside of controlled environments. One approach towards building more flexible and domain-independent robot grasping systems is to employ learning to adapt the robot's perceptual and motor system to the task. However, one pitfall in robot perceptual and motor learning is that the cost of gathering the learning set may be unacceptably high. Active learning algorithms address this shortcoming by intelligently selecting actions so as to decrease the number of examples necessary to achieve good performance and also avoid separate training and execution phases, leading to higher autonomy. We describe the IE-ID3 algorithm, which extends the Interval Estimation (IE) active learning approach from discrete to real-valued learning domains by combining IE with a classification tree learning algorithm (ID-3). We present a robot system which rapidly learns to select the grasp approach directions using IE-ID3 given simplified superquadric shape approximations of objects. Initial results on a small set of objects show that a robot with a laser scanner system can rapidly learn to pick up new objects, and simulation studies show the superiority of the active learning approach for a simulated grasping task using larger sets of objects. Extensions of the approach and future areas of research incorporating more sophisticated perceptual and action representation are discussed     

Socially guided intrinsic motivation for robot learning of motor skills

This paper presents a technical approach to robot learning of motor skills which combines active intrinsically motivated learning with imitation learning. Our algorithmic architecture, called SGIM-D, allows efficient learning of high-dimensional continuous sensorimotor inverse models in robots, and in particular learns distributions of parameterised motor policies that solve a corresponding distribution of parameterised goals/tasks. This is made possible by the technical integration of imitation learning techniques within an algorithm for learning inverse models that relies on active goal babbling. After reviewing social learning and intrinsic motivation approaches to action learning, we describe the general framework of our algorithm, before detailing its architecture. In an experiment where a robot arm has to learn to use a flexible fishing line, we illustrate that SGIM-D efficiently combines the advantages of social learning and intrinsic motivation and benefits from human demonstration properties to learn how to produce varied outcomes in the environment, while developing more precise control policies in large spaces.     

Augmented reality-assisted robot programming system for industrial applications

Robots are important in high-mix low-volume manufacturing because of their versatility and repeatability in performing manufacturing tasks. However, robots have not been widely used due to cumbersome programming effort and lack of operator skill. One significant factor prohibiting the widespread application of robots by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is the high cost and necessary skill of programming and re-programming robots to perform diverse tasks. This paper discusses an Augmented Reality (AR) assisted robot programming system (ARRPS) that provides faster and more intuitive robot programming than conventional techniques. ARRPS is designed to allow users with little robot programming knowledge to program tasks for a serial robot. The system transforms the work cell of a serial industrial robot into an AR environment. With an AR user interface and a handheld pointer for interaction, users are free to move around the work cell to define 3D points and paths for the real robot to follow. Sensor data and algorithms are used for robot motion planning, collision detection and plan validation. The proposed approach enables fast and intuitive robotic path and task programming, and allows users to focus only on the definition of tasks. The implementation of this AR-assisted robot system is presented, and specific methods to enhance the performance of the users in carrying out robot programming using this system are highlighted.     

An experiment in the application of similarity-based learning to programming by example

Programming by example is a powerful way of bestowing on nonprogrammers the ability to communicate tasks to a computer. When creating procedures from examples it is necessary to be able to infer the existence of variables, conditional branches, and loops. This article explores the role of empirical or “similarity-based” learning in this process. For a concrete example of a procedure induction system, we use an existing scheme called METAMOUSE which allows graphical procedures to be specified from examples of their execution. A procedure is induced from the first example, and can be generalized in accordance with examples encountered later on. We describe how the system can be enhanced with Mitchell's candidate elimination algorithm, one of the simplest empirical learning techniques, to improve its ability to recognize constraints in a comprehensive and flexible manner. Procedure induction is, no doubt, a very complex task. This work revealed usefulness and effectiveness of empirical learning in procedure induction, although it cannot be a complete substitute for specific preprogrammed, domain knowledge in situations where this is readily available. However, in domains such as graphical editing, where knowledge is incomplete and/or incorrect, the best way to pursue may prove to be a combination of similarity- and explanation-based learning. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Identifying Objects in Procedural Programs Using Clustering Neural Networks

This paper presents a general approach for the identification of objects in procedural programs. The approach is based on neural architectures that perform an unsupervised learning of clusters. We describe two such neural architectures, explain how to use them in identifying objects in software systems and briefly describe a prototype tool, which implements the clustering algorithms. With the aid of several examples, we explain how our approach can identify abstract data types as well as groups of routines which reference a common set of data. The clustering results are compared to the results of many other object identification techniques. Finally, several case studies were performed on existing programs to evaluate the object identification approach. Results concerning two representative programs and their generated clusters are discussed.     

Learning Dextrous Manipulation Skills for Multifingered Robot Hands Using the Evolution Strategy

We present a method for autonomous learning of dextrous manipulation skills with multifingered robot hands. We use heuristics derived from observations made on human hands to reduce the degrees of freedom of the task and make learning tractable. Our approach consists of learning and storing a few basic manipulation primitives for a few prototypical objects and then using an associative memory to obtain the required parameters for new objects and/or manipulations. The parameter space of the robot is searched using a modified version of the evolution strategy, which is robust to the noise normally present in real-world complex robotic tasks. Given the difficulty of modeling and simulating accurately the interactions of multiple fingers and an object, and to ensure that the learned skills are applicable in the real world, our system does not rely on simulation; all the experimentation is performed by a physical robot, in this case the 16-degree-of-freedom Utah/MIT hand. Experimental results show that accurate dextrous manipulation skills can be learned by the robot in a short period of time. We also show the application of the learned primitives to perform an assembly task and how the primitives generalize to objects that are different from those used during the learning phase.     

Incremental learning of tasks from user demonstrations, past experiences, and vocal comments.

Since many years the robotics community is envisioning robot assistants sharing the same environment with humans. It became obvious that they have to interact with humans and should adapt to individual user needs. Especially the high variety of tasks robot assistants will be facing requires a highly adaptive and user-friendly programming interface. One possible solution to this programming problem is the learning-by-demonstration paradigm, where the robot is supposed to observe the execution of a task, acquire task knowledge, and reproduce it. In this paper, a system to record, interpret, and reason over demonstrations of household tasks is presented. The focus is on the model-based representation of manipulation tasks, which serves as a basis for incremental reasoning over the acquired task knowledge. The aim of the reasoning is to condense and interconnect the data, resulting in more general task knowledge. A measure for the assessment of information content of task features is introduced. This measure for the relevance of certain features relies both on general background knowledge as well as task-specific knowledge gathered from the user demonstrations. Beside the autonomous information estimation of features, speech comments during the execution, pointing out the relevance of features are considered as well. The results of the incremental growth of the task knowledge when more task demonstrations become available and their fusion with relevance information gained from speech comments is demonstrated within the task of laying a table.     

Learning Dextrous Manipulation Skills for Multifingered Robot Hands Using the Evolution Strategy

We present a method for autonomous learning of dextrous manipulation skills with multifingered robot hands. We use heuristics derived from observations made on human hands to reduce the degrees of freedom of the task and make learning tractable. Our approach consists of learning and storing a few basic manipulation primitives for a few prototypical objects and then using an associative memory to obtain the required parameters for new objects and/or manipulations. The parameter space of the robot is searched using a modified version of the evolution strategy, which is robust to the noise normally present in real-world complex robotic tasks. Given the difficulty of modeling and simulating accurately the interactions of multiple fingers and an object, and to ensure that the learned skills are applicable in the real world, our system does not rely on simulation; all the experimentation is performed by a physical robot, in this case the 16-degree-of-freedom Utah/MIT hand. E xperimental results show that accurate dextrous manipulation skills can be learned by the robot in a short period of time. We also show the application of the learned primitives to perform an assembly task and how the primitives generalize to objects that are different from those used during the learning phase.     

Direct off-line robot programming via a common CAD package

This paper focuses on intuitive and direct off-line robot programming from a CAD drawing running on a common 3-D CAD package. It explores the most suitable way to represent robot motion in a CAD drawing, how to automatically extract such motion data from the drawing, make the mapping of data from the virtual (CAD model) to the real environment and the process of automatic generation of robot paths/programs. In summary, this study aims to present a novel CAD-based robot programming system accessible to anyone with basic knowledge of CAD and robotics. Experiments on different manipulation tasks show the effectiveness and versatility of the proposed approach.