Detecting objects in mobile robotics is crucial for numerous applications, from autonomous navigation to inspection. However, robots are often required to perform tasks in different domains with respect to the training one and need to adapt to these changes. Tiny mobile robots, subject to size, power, and computational constraints, encounter even more difficulties in running and adapting these algorithms. Such adaptability, though, is crucial for real-world deployment, where robots must operate effectively in dynamic and unpredictable settings. In this work, we introduce a novel benchmark to evaluate the continual learning capabilities of object detection systems in tiny robotic platforms. Our contributions include: (i) Tiny Robotics Object Detection (TiROD), a comprehensive dataset collected using a small mobile robot, designed to test the adaptability of object detectors across various domains and classes; (ii) an evaluation of state-of-the-art real-time object detectors combined with different continual learning strategies on this dataset, providing detailed insights into their performance and limitations; and (iii) we publish the data and the code to replicate the results to foster continuous advancements in this field. Our benchmark results indicate key challenges that must be addressed to advance the development of robust and efficient object detection systems for tiny robotics.

Novel, functional structures at the nanoscale could be crucial for transforming a broad spectrum of economically significant processes into greener and more sustainable solutions. For instance, nanostructured materials hold the potential to significantly enhance the cost-effectiveness of fuel-cell devices [1], enable the creation of highly efficient quantum-dot LEDs [2], and pave the way for generating atom-precise efficient nanocatalysts for studying novel catalytic pathways in electrochemical applications [3, 4]. As performance is highly dependent on specific structural characteristics which often can not easily be resolved in lab experiments, computational chemistry - most often by using Density Functional Theory (DFT) based approaches - can be used to generate in-silico insights. Typical questions range from elucidating which feature of a given nanoparticle might improve catalytic performance to mechanistic explanations for key synthesis procedures, allowing tailored experiments to drive up experimental yields for optimal structures. Commonly, these questions are associated with finding energetically favorable configurations for the potential energy surface (PES) of a system, which is a property relevant to solving a wide range of problems in computational chemistry. The established methodology allows finding "docking" mechanisms between small molecules and large biomolecules, which is relevant for drug development [5]. Additionally, a large area of research revolves around the sensing of harmful gases by novel nanomaterials chosen according to their strength of interactions.

In this paper, we restructure the Neural Interconnection and Damping Assignment - Passivity Based Control (Neural IDA-PBC) design methodology, and we formally analyze its closed-loop properties. Neural IDA-PBC redefines the IDA-PBC design approach as an optimization problem by building on the framework of Physics Informed Neural Networks (PINNs). However, the closed-loop stability and robustness properties under Neural IDA-PBC remain unexplored. To address the issue, we study the behavior of classical IDA-PBC under approximations. Our theoretical analysis allows deriving conditions for practical and asymptotic stability of the desired equilibrium point. Moreover, it extends the Neural IDA-PBC applicability to port-Hamiltonian systems where the matching conditions cannot be solved exactly. Our renewed optimization-based design introduces three significant aspects: i) it involves a novel optimization objective including stability and robustness constraints issued from our theoretical analysis; ii) it employs separate Neural Networks (NNs), which can be structured to reduce the search space to relevant functions; iii) it does not require knowledge about the port-Hamiltonian formulation of the system's model. Our methodology is validated with simulations on three standard benchmarks: a double pendulum, a nonlinear mass-spring-damper and a cartpole. Notably, classical IDA-PBC designs cannot be analytically derived for the latter.

This paper presents a novel approach to enhance the Binary-Addition-Tree algorithm (BAT) by integrating incremental learning techniques. BAT, known for its simplicity in development, implementation, and application, is a powerful implicit enumeration method for solving network reliability and optimization problems. However, it traditionally struggles with dynamic and large-scale networks due to its static nature. By introducing incremental learning, we enable the BAT to adapt and improve its performance iteratively as it encounters new data or network changes. This integration allows for more efficient computation, reduced redundancy without searching minimal paths and cuts, and improves overall performance in dynamic environments. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, showing significant improvements in both computational efficiency and solution quality compared to the traditional BAT and indirect algorithms, such as MP-based algorithms and MC-based algorithms.

We introduce adaptive learn-then-test (aLTT), an efficient hyperparameter selection procedure that provides finite-sample statistical guarantees on the population risk of AI models. Unlike the existing learn-then-test (LTT) technique, which relies on conventional p-value-based multiple hypothesis testing (MHT), aLTT implements sequential data-dependent MHT with early termination by leveraging e-processes. As a result, aLTT can reduce the number of testing rounds, making it particularly well-suited for scenarios in which testing is costly or presents safety risks. Apart from maintaining statistical validity, in applications such as online policy selection for offline reinforcement learning and hyperparameter tuning for engineering systems, aLTT is shown to achieve the same performance as LTT while requiring only a fraction of the testing rounds.

Hundreds of ancient drawings depicting decapitated human heads and domesticated llamas have been discovered in the Peruvian desert with the help of artificial intelligence. Archaeologists have previously linked these creations to the people of the Nazca culture, who started etching such images, called geoglyphs, into the ground around 2000 years ago. These geoglyphs are smaller and older than the Nazca lines and other figures found to date, which portray huge geometric shapes stretching several kilometres or wild animals about 90 metres long on average. The newly discovered images typically depict humanoid figures and domesticated animals around 9 metres long. Some even hint at human sacrifice, portraying decapitated heads and killer whales armed with blades.

If events in the last few years have felt like a higher power playing Mad Libs with our lives, then it looks as if it's running out of options. "SpaceX," you imagine it pulling out "gets sued by…" and then the sounds of paper rustling until it says, "Cards Against Humanity." Turns out the silly game jokesters own an acre of land near to SpaceX's facility in Texas, which the latter has been using for its own purposes. Cards Against Humanity has filed a lawsuit against SpaceX, alleging the rocket company has been trespassing on land it bought back in 2017. The lawsuit says the previously pristine land has been turned into an ersatz staging ground and parking lot for nearby construction work.

Abstract-- We aim to solve the problem of generating coarseto-fine skills learning from demonstrations (LfD). To scale precision, traditional LfD approaches often rely on extensive fine-grained demonstrations with external interpolations or dynamics models with limited generalization capabilities. For memory-efficient learning and convenient granularity change, we propose a novel diffusion-SSM based policy (DiSPo) that learns from diverse coarse skills and produces varying control scales of actions by leveraging a state-space model, Mamba. Our evaluations show the adoption of Mamba and the proposed step-scaling method enables DiSPo to outperform in five coarseto-fine benchmark tests while DiSPo shows decent performance in typical fine-grained motion learning and reproduction. We finally demonstrate the scalability of actions with simulation and real-world manipulation tasks. In typical object manipulation, small imprecision around local regions often leads to the failure of entire tasks, such Figure 1: A capture of a square-drawing task that requires as robot welding, screwing, and drawing, as shown in Figure 1.

-- Learning-based algorithms have demonstrated impressive performance in agile locomotion of legged robots. However, learned policies are often complex and opaque due to the black-box nature of learning algorithms, which hinders predictability and precludes guarantees on performance or safety. In this work, we develop a novel safe navigation framework that combines Koopman operators and model-predictive control (MPC) frameworks. Our method adopts Koopman operator theory to learn the linear evolution of dynamics of the underlying locomotion policy, which can be effectively learned with Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD). Given that our learned model is linear, we can readily leverage the standard MPC algorithm. Our framework is easy to implement with less prior knowledge because it does not require access to the underlying dynamical systems or control-theoretic techniques. We demonstrate that the learned linear dynamics can better predict the trajectories of legged robots than baselines. In addition, we showcase that the proposed navigation framework can achieve better safety with less collisions in challenging and dense environments with narrow passages. I. INTRODUCTION Recent advances in reinforcement learning have led to significant improvements in robust and agile quadrupedal locomotion [1]-[6].

Developing dedicated neuromorphic computing platforms optimized for embedded or edge-computing applications requires time-consuming design, fabrication, and deployment of full-custom neuromorphic processors. To ensure that initial prototyping efforts, exploring the properties of different network architectures and parameter settings, lead to realistic results it is important to use simulation frameworks that match as best as possible the properties of the final hardware. This is particularly challenging for neuromorphic hardware platforms made using mixed-signal analog/digital circuits, due to the variability and noise sensitivity of their components. In this paper, we address this challenge by developing a software spiking neural network simulator explicitly designed to account for the properties of mixed-signal neuromorphic circuits, including device mismatch variability. The simulator, called ARCANA (A Realistic Simulation Framework for Analog/Digital Neuromorphic Architectures), is designed to reproduce the dynamics of mixed-signal synapse and neuron electronic circuits with autogradient differentiation for parameter optimization and GPU acceleration. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach by matching software simulation results with measurements made from an existing neuromorphic processor. We show how the results obtained provide a reliable estimate of the behavior of the spiking neural network trained in software, once deployed in hardware. This framework enables the development and innovation of new learning rules and processing architectures in neuromorphic embedded systems. Keywords: SNN, DPI, neuromorphic, PyTorch, DYNAP-SE 1. Introduction Mixed-signal neuromorphic circuits emulate the neural and synaptic dynamics observed in real neural systems, reproducing features such as limited precision, heterogeneity, and high