Related papers: Constrained Stein Variational Trajectory Optimizat…
This paper proposes distributed algorithms to solve robust convex optimization (RCO) when the constraints are affected by nonlinear uncertainty. We adopt a scenario approach by randomly sampling the uncertainty set. To facilitate the…
Stein Variational Gradient Descent (SVGD) is an important alternative to the Langevin-type algorithms for sampling from probability distributions of the form $\pi(x) \propto \exp(-V(x))$. In the existing theory of Langevin-type algorithms…
Gradient compression is of growing interests for solving constrained optimization problems including compressed sensing, noisy recovery and matrix completion under limited communication resources and storage costs. Convergence analysis of…
This paper presents a framework that allows online dynamic-stability-constrained optimal trajectory planning of a mobile manipulator robot working on rough terrain. First, the kinematics model of a mobile manipulator robot, and the Zero…
Stochastic particle-optimization sampling (SPOS) is a recently-developed scalable Bayesian sampling framework that unifies stochastic gradient MCMC (SG-MCMC) and Stein variational gradient descent (SVGD) algorithms based on Wasserstein…
We present an optimization-based method to plan the motion of an autonomous robot under the uncertainties associated with dynamic obstacles, such as humans. Our method bounds the marginal risk of collisions at each point in time by…
In this work we are interested in the construction of numerical methods for high dimensional constrained nonlinear optimization problems by particle-based gradient-free techniques. A consensus-based optimization (CBO) approach combined with…
A new topology optimization method called the Proportional Topology Optimization (PTO) is presented. As a non-gradient method, PTO is simple to understand, easy to implement, and is also efficient and accurate at the same time. It is…
Sliced Wasserstein (SW) distances offer an efficient method for comparing high-dimensional probability measures by projecting them onto multiple 1-dimensional probability distributions. However, identifying informative slicing directions…
For minimizing a strongly convex objective function subject to linear inequality constraints, we consider a penalty approach that allows one to utilize stochastic methods for problems with a large number of constraints and/or objective…
In this paper, we provide a novel analytical perspective on the theoretical understanding of gradient-based learning algorithms by interpreting consensus-based optimization (CBO), a recently proposed multi-particle derivative-free…
This paper addresses sampling-based trajectory optimization for risk-aware navigation under stochastic dynamics. Typically such approaches operate by computing $\tilde{N}$ perturbed rollouts around the nominal dynamics to estimate the…
Efficient performance of a number of engineering systems is achieved through different modes of operation - yielding systems described as "hybrid", containing both real-valued and discrete decision variables. Prominent examples of such…
This paper proposes a set of novel optimization algorithms for solving a class of convex optimization problems with time-varying streaming cost function. We develop an approach to track the optimal solution with a bounded error. Unlike the…
This paper proposes a distributed stochastic projection-free algorithm for large-scale constrained finite-sum optimization whose constraint set is complicated such that the projection onto the constraint set can be expensive. The global…
Stein variational gradient descent (SVGD) and its variants have shown promising successes in approximate inference for complex distributions. In practice, we notice that the kernel used in SVGD-based methods has a decisive effect on the…
Autonomous high-speed navigation through large, complex environments requires real-time generation of agile trajectories that are dynamically feasible, collision-free, and satisfy state or actuator constraints. Modern trajectory planning…
In this paper, we present a novel approach to efficiently generate collision-free optimal trajectories for multiple non-holonomic mobile robots in obstacle-rich environments. Our approach first employs a graph-based multi-agent path planner…
In this contribution, we present a full overview of the continuous stochastic gradient (CSG) method, including convergence results, step size rules and algorithmic insights. We consider optimization problems in which the objective function…
Federated learning heavily relies on distributed gradient descent techniques. In the situation where gradient information is not available, the gradients need to be estimated from zeroth-order information, which typically involves computing…