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Collaborating Authors

 Yamanokuchi, Tomoya


Disentangled Iterative Surface Fitting for Contact-stable Grasp Planning

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

In this work, we address the limitation of surface fitting-based grasp planning algorithm, which primarily focuses on geometric alignment between the gripper and object surface while overlooking the stability of contact point distribution, often resulting in unstable grasps due to inadequate contact configurations. To overcome this limitation, we propose a novel surface fitting algorithm that integrates contact stability while preserving geometric compatibility. Inspired by human grasping behavior, our method disentangles the grasp pose optimization into three sequential steps: (1) rotation optimization to align contact normals, (2) translation refinement to improve Center of Mass (CoM) alignment, and (3) gripper aperture adjustment to optimize contact point distribution. We validate our approach through simulations on ten YCB dataset objects, demonstrating an 80% improvement in grasp success over conventional surface fitting methods that disregard contact stability. Further details can be found on our project page: https://tomoya-yamanokuchi.github.io/disf-project-page/.


Weber-Fechner Law in Temporal Difference learning derived from Control as Inference

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

This paper investigates a novel nonlinear update rule based on temporal difference (TD) errors in reinforcement learning (RL). The update rule in the standard RL states that the TD error is linearly proportional to the degree of updates, treating all rewards equally without no bias. On the other hand, the recent biological studies revealed that there are nonlinearities in the TD error and the degree of updates, biasing policies optimistic or pessimistic. Such biases in learning due to nonlinearities are expected to be useful and intentionally leftover features in biological learning. Therefore, this research explores a theoretical framework that can leverage the nonlinearity between the degree of the update and TD errors. To this end, we focus on a control as inference framework, since it is known as a generalized formulation encompassing various RL and optimal control methods. In particular, we investigate the uncomputable nonlinear term needed to be approximately excluded in the derivation of the standard RL from control as inference. By analyzing it, Weber-Fechner law (WFL) is found, namely, perception (a.k.a. the degree of updates) in response to stimulus change (a.k.a. TD error) is attenuated by increase in the stimulus intensity (a.k.a. the value function). To numerically reveal the utilities of WFL on RL, we then propose a practical implementation using a reward-punishment framework and modifying the definition of optimality. Analysis of this implementation reveals that two utilities can be expected i) to increase rewards to a certain level early, and ii) to sufficiently suppress punishment. We finally investigate and discuss the expected utilities through simulations and robot experiments. As a result, the proposed RL algorithm with WFL shows the expected utilities that accelerate the reward-maximizing startup and continue to suppress punishments during learning.