Related papers: Combining Sampling- and Gradient-based Planning fo…

Recent works in high-dimensional model-predictive control and model-based reinforcement learning with learned dynamics and reward models have resorted to population-based optimization methods, such as the Cross-Entropy Method (CEM), for…

Contact-based motion planning for manipulation, object exploration or balancing often requires finding sequences of fixed and sliding contacts and planning the transition from one contact in the environment to another. However, most…

The tremendous success of behavior cloning (BC) in robotic manipulation has been largely confined to tasks where demonstrations can be effectively collected through human teleoperation. However, demonstrations for contact-rich manipulation…

The empirical success of derivative-free methods in reinforcement learning for planning through contact seems at odds with the perceived fragility of classical gradient-based optimization methods in these domains. What is causing this gap,…

In this paper, we present a receding-horizon, sampling-based planner capable of reasoning over multimodal policy distributions. By using the cross-entropy method to optimize a multimodal policy under a common cost function, our approach…

This paper presents a sampling-based planning algorithm for in-hand manipulation of a grasped object using a series of external pushes. A high-level sampling-based planning framework, in tandem with a low-level inverse contact dynamics…

Gradient-based methods can efficiently optimize controllers by leveraging differentiable simulation and physical priors. However, contact-rich manipulation remains challenging because hybrid contact dynamics often produce discontinuous or…

Planning for legged-wheeled machines is typically done using trajectory optimization because of many degrees of freedom, thus rendering legged-wheeled planners prone to falling prey to bad local minima. We present a combined sampling and…

Cross-entropy method model predictive control (CEM--MPC) is a powerful gradient-free technique for nonlinear optimal control, but its performance is often limited by the reliance on random sampling. This conventional approach can lead to…

Current state-of-the-art model-based reinforcement learning algorithms use trajectory sampling methods, such as the Cross-Entropy Method (CEM), for planning in continuous control settings. These zeroth-order optimizers require sampling a…

The empirical success of Reinforcement Learning (RL) in the setting of contact-rich manipulation leaves much to be understood from a model-based perspective, where the key difficulties are often attributed to (i) the explosion of contact…

Trajectory optimizers for model-based reinforcement learning, such as the Cross-Entropy Method (CEM), can yield compelling results even in high-dimensional control tasks and sparse-reward environments. However, their sampling inefficiency…

Contact-rich manipulation is challenging due to its high dimensionality, the requirement for long time horizons, and the presence of hybrid contact dynamics. Sampling-based methods have become a popular approach for this class of problems,…

In many robot motion planning problems, task objectives and physical constraints induce non-Euclidean geometry on the configuration space, yet many planners operate using Euclidean distances that ignore this structure. We address the…

Sampling-based model predictive control methods like MPPI and CEM are essential for real-time control of nonlinear robotic systems, particularly where discontinuous dynamics preclude gradient-based optimization. However, these methods…

Sampling-based algorithms are widely used for motion planning in high-dimensional configuration spaces. However, due to low sampling efficiency, their performance often diminishes in complex configuration spaces with narrow corridors.…

Applying intelligent robot arms in dynamic uncertain environments (i.e., flexible production lines) remains challenging, which requires efficient algorithms for real time trajectory generation. The motion planning problem for robot…

We present a novel method for global motion planning of robotic systems that interact with the environment through contacts. Our method directly handles the hybrid nature of such tasks using tools from convex optimization. We formulate the…

Planning balanced and collision-free motion for humanoid robots is non-trivial, especially when they are operated in complex environments, such as reaching targets behind obstacles or through narrow passages. We propose a method that allows…

Robotic manipulation research has investigated contact-rich problems and strategies that require robots to intentionally collide with their environment, to accomplish tasks that cannot be handled by traditional collision-free solutions. By…