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We present a novel method, called NeTO, for capturing 3D geometry of solid transparent objects from 2D images via volume rendering. Reconstructing transparent objects is a very challenging task, which is ill-suited for general-purpose…
A common representation of a three dimensional object in computer applications, such as graphics and design, is in the form of a triangular mesh. In many instances, individual or groups of triangles in such representation need to satisfy…
Excavation of irregular rigid objects in clutter, such as fragmented rocks and wood blocks, is very challenging due to their complex interaction dynamics and highly variable geometries. In this paper, we adopt reinforcement learning (RL) to…
The manipulation of flexible objects such as cables, wires and fresh food items by robot hands forms a special challenge in robot grasp mechanics. This paper considers the steering of flexible linear objects in planar environments by two…
We develop an algorithmic theory of convex optimization over discrete sets. Using a combination of algebraic and geometric tools we are able to provide polynomial time algorithms for solving broad classes of convex combinatorial…
Traditional algorithms for stochastic optimization require projecting the solution at each iteration into a given domain to ensure its feasibility. When facing complex domains, such as positive semi-definite cones, the projection operation…
Rigid-bodied robots often lack compliance needed to adapt to unstructured environments, while fully soft robots, though highly adaptable, struggle with scalability and load capacity. In nature, musculoskeletal systems balance strength and…
Deformable objects manipulation can benefit from representations that seamlessly integrate vision and touch while handling occlusions. In this work, we present a novel approach for, and real-world demonstration of, multimodal visuo-tactile…
In this work, we propose an optimization framework for estimating a sparse robust one-dimensional subspace. Our objective is to minimize both the representation error and the penalty, in terms of the l1-norm criterion. Given that the…
We present a subgradient method for minimizing non-smooth, non-Lipschitz convex optimization problems. The only structure assumed is that a strictly feasible point is known. We extend the work of Renegar [5] by taking a different…
We consider feasibility and constrained optimization problems defined over smooth and/or strongly convex sets. These notions mirror their popular function counterparts but are much less explored in the first-order optimization literature.…
The collision avoidance constraints are prominent as non-convex, non-differentiable, and challenging when defined in optimization-based motion planning problems. To overcome these issues, this paper presents a novel non-conservative…
This paper studies first-order algorithms for solving fully composite optimization problems over convex and compact sets. We leverage the structure of the objective by handling its differentiable and non-differentiable components…
Discontinuous visibility changes remain a major bottleneck when optimizing surfaces within a physically-based inverse renderer. Many previous works have proposed sophisticated algorithms and data structures to sample visibility silhouettes…
The robotic manipulation of composite rigid-deformable objects (i.e. those with mixed non-homogeneous stiffness properties) is a challenging problem with clear practical applications that, despite the recent progress in the field, it has…
We introduce an efficient and scalable method for density-based multi-material topology optimization, integrating classical mirror descent techniques with point-wise polytopal design constraints. Such constraints arise naturally in this…
Object rearrangement in a multi-room setup should produce a reasonable plan that reduces the agent's overall travel and the number of steps. Recent state-of-the-art methods fail to produce such plans because they rely on explicit…
Topology optimization is a powerful tool utilized in various fields for structural design. However, its application has primarily been restricted to static or passively moving objects, mainly focusing on hard materials with limited…
Iso-surface extraction from an implicit field is a fundamental process in various applications of computer vision and graphics. When dealing with geometric shapes with complicated geometric details, many existing algorithms suffer from high…
The ability to place objects in the environment is an important skill for a personal robot. An object should not only be placed stably, but should also be placed in its preferred location/orientation. For instance, a plate is preferred to…