English

CALIPSO: A Differentiable Solver for Trajectory Optimization with Conic and Complementarity Constraints

Robotics 2023-01-12 v3 Systems and Control Systems and Control

Abstract

We present a new solver for non-convex trajectory optimization problems that is specialized for robotics applications. CALIPSO, or the Conic Augmented Lagrangian Interior-Point SOlver, combines several strategies for constrained numerical optimization to natively handle second-order cones and complementarity constraints. It reliably solves challenging motion-planning problems that include contact-implicit formulations of impacts and Coulomb friction and state-triggered constraints where general-purpose non-convex solvers like SNOPT and Ipopt fail to converge. Additionally, CALIPSO supports efficient differentiation of solutions with respect to problem data, enabling bi-level optimization applications like auto-tuning of feedback policies. Reliable convergence of the solver is demonstrated on a range of problems from manipulation, locomotion, and aerospace domains. An open-source implementation of this solver is available.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2205.09255,
  title  = {CALIPSO: A Differentiable Solver for Trajectory Optimization with Conic and Complementarity Constraints},
  author = {Taylor A. Howell and Simon Le Cleac'h and Kevin Tracy and Zachary Manchester},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2205.09255},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

Fixes and minor reformatting

R2 v1 2026-06-24T11:21:43.535Z