Related papers: Gradient based reachability analysis for goal-orie…
We introduce a new computational technique for searching for faint moving sources in astronomical images. Starting from a maximum likelihood estimate for the probability of the detection of a source within a series of images, we develop a…
Planetary exploration missions require robots capable of navigating extreme and unknown environments. While wheeled rovers have dominated past missions, their mobility is limited to traversable surfaces. Legged robots, especially…
Autonomous exploration is a new technology in the field of robotics that has found widespread application due to its objective to help robots independently localize, scan maps, and navigate any terrain without human control. Up to present,…
(99942) Apophis is a potentially hazardous asteroid that will closely approach the Earth on April 13, 2029. Although the likelihood of an impact has been ruled out, this close encounter represents a unique opportunity for planetary science…
The exploration of small bodies in the Solar System is a high priority planetary science. Asteroids, comets, and planetary moons yield important information about the evolution of the Solar System. Additionally, they could provide resources…
Safe path planning is a crucial component in autonomous robotics. The many approaches to find a collision free path can be categorically divided into trajectory optimisers and sampling-based methods. When planning using occupancy maps, the…
Assistive robotic systems endeavour to support those with movement disabilities, enabling them to move again and regain functionality. Main issue with these systems is the complexity of their low-level control, and how to translate this to…
Accurate gravity field models are essential for safe proximity operations around small bodies. State-of-the-art techniques use spherical harmonics or high-fidelity polyhedron shape models. Unfortunately, these techniques can become…
Intercepting dynamic objects in uncertain environments involves a significant unresolved challenge in modern robotic systems. Current control approaches rely solely on estimated information, and results lack guarantees of robustness and…
In this paper, we propose a new algorithm for exploratory projection pursuit. The basis of the algorithm is the insight that previous approaches used fairly narrow definitions of interestingness / non interestingness. We argue that allowing…
Active object detection, which aims to identify objects of interest through controlled camera movements, plays a pivotal role in real-world visual perception for autonomous robotic applications, such as manufacturing tasks (e.g., assembly…
Gradient methods are experiencing a growth in methodological and theoretical developments owing to the challenges posed by optimization problems arising in data science. However, such gradient methods face diverging optimality gaps or…
Multi-goal reaching is an important problem in reinforcement learning needed to achieve algorithmic generalization. Despite recent advances in this field, current algorithms suffer from three major challenges: high sample complexity,…
This paper presents an optimization-based receding horizon trajectory planning algorithm for dynamical systems operating in unstructured and cluttered environments. The proposed approach is a two-step procedure that uses a motion planning…
This paper presents an extremum seeking control algorithm with an adaptive step-size that adjusts the aggressiveness of the controller based on the quality of the gradient estimate. The adaptive step-size ensures that the integral-action…
We present a method for autonomous exploration of large-scale unknown environments under mission time constraints. We start by proposing the Frontloaded Information Gain Orienteering Problem (FIG-OP) -- a generalization of the traditional…
One of the most fundamental problems in computer science is the reachability problem: Given a directed graph and two vertices s and t, can s reach t via a path? We revisit existing techniques and combine them with new approaches to support…
The interest in the problem of small asteroids observed shortly before a deep close approach or an impact with the Earth has grown a lot in recent years. Since the observational dataset of such objects is very limited, they deserve…
The exploration of planetary surfaces is predominately unmanned, calling for a landing vehicle and an autonomous and/or teleoperated rover. Artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques can be leveraged for better mission…
The dynamics and control of a satellite in proximity to the asteroid Apophis across its Earth close approach in 2029 is evaluated and investigated. First, the feasibility of carrying out close proximity operations about Apophis when in its…