Related papers: Model-Free Optimization on Smooth Compact Manifold…
Although design optimization has shown its great power of automatizing the whole design process and providing an optimal design, using sophisticated computational models, its process can be formidable due to a computationally expensive…
This paper addresses the study of derivative-free smooth optimization problems, where the gradient information on the objective function is unavailable. Two novel general derivative-free methods are proposed and developed for minimizing…
We introduce a manifold-based framework for addressing optimization problems with equality and inequality constraints found in robotics. Our approach transforms the original problem into an unconstrained optimization problem directly on the…
Model order reduction in high-dimensional, nonlinear dynamical systems if often enabled through fast-slow timescale separation. One such approach involves identifying a low-dimensional slow manifold to which the state rapidly converges and…
Time scale separation is a natural property of many control systems that can be ex- ploited, theoretically and numerically. We present a numerical scheme to solve optimal control problems with considerable time scale separation that is…
We present a numerically tractable formulation for computing the optimal control of the class of hybrid dynamical systems whose trajectories are continuous. Our formulation, an extension of existing relaxed-control techniques for switched…
The relaxation in the calculus of variation motivates the numerical analysis of a class of degenerate convex minimization problems with non-strictly convex energy densities with some convexity control and two-sided $p$-growth. The…
We present a novel gradient-free algorithm to solve a convex stochastic optimization problem, such as those encountered in medicine, physics, and machine learning (e.g., adversarial multi-armed bandit problem), where the objective function…
Solving optimal control problems for transport-dominated partial differential equations (PDEs) can become computationally expensive, especially when dealing with high-dimensional systems. To overcome this challenge, we focus on developing…
Discrete gradient methods are geometric integration techniques that can preserve the dissipative structure of gradient flows. Due to the monotonic decay of the function values, they are well suited for general convex and nonconvex…
State estimation of multi-modal hybrid systems is an important problem with many applications in the field robotics. However, incorporating discrete modes in the estimation process is hampered by a potentially combinatorial growth in…
Stochastic MPECs have found increasing relevance for modeling a broad range of settings in engineering and statistics. Yet, there seem to be no efficient first/zeroth-order schemes equipped with non-asymptotic rate guarantees for resolving…
We present a real-time-capable set-based framework for closed-loop predictive control of autonomous systems using tools from computational geometry, dynamic programming, and convex optimization. The control architecture relies on the…
Compatible Discrete Operator schemes preserve basic properties of the continuous model at the discrete level. They combine discrete differential operators that discretize exactly topological laws and discrete Hodge operators that…
Optimal control problems naturally arise in many scientific applications where one wishes to steer a dynamical system from a certain initial state $\mathbf{x}_0$ to a desired target state $\mathbf{x}^*$ in finite time $T$. Recent advances…
We propose a reduced-order model for the instantaneous hydrodynamic force on a cylinder. The model consists of a system of two ordinary differential equations (ODEs), which can be integrated in time to yield very accurate histories of the…
Dynamical analysis of manufacturing and natural systems provides critical information about production of manufactured and natural resources respectively, thus playing an important role in assessing sustainability of these systems. However,…
We propose a robust and scalable procedure for general optimization and inference problems on manifolds leveraging the classical idea of `median-of-means' estimation. This is motivated by ubiquitous examples and applications in modern data…
A fundamental issue at the core of trajectory optimization on smooth manifolds is handling the implicit manifold constraint within the dynamics. The conventional approach is to enforce the dynamic model as a constraint. However, we show…
Generating intelligent robot behavior in contact-rich settings is a research problem where zeroth-order methods currently prevail. Developing methods that make use of first/second order information about rigid-body dynamics in the presence…