This higher-level abstraction improves generalization in different prediction settings, but computing predictions often becomes intractable in large decision spaces. We propose the Soft-star algorithm, a softened heuristic-guided search technique for the maximum entropy inverse optimal control model of sequential behavior. This approach supports probabilistic search with bounded approximation error at a significantly reduced computational cost when compared to sampling based methods. We present the algorithm, analyze approximation guarantees, and compare performance with simulation-based inference on two distinct complex decision tasks.

This higher-level abstraction improves generalization in different prediction settings, but computing predictions often becomes intractable in large decision spaces. We propose the Softstar algorithm, a softened heuristic-guided search technique for the maximum entropy inverse optimal control model of sequential behavior. This approach supports probabilistic search with bounded approximation error at a significantly reduced computational cost when compared to sampling based methods. We present the algorithm, analyze approximation guarantees, and compare performance with simulation-based inference on two distinct complex decision tasks.

In this paper, we consider the problem of synthesizing a controller in the presence of uncertainty such that the resulting closed-loop system satisfies certain hard constraints while optimizing certain (soft) performance objectives. We assume that the hard constraints encoding safety or mission-critical task objectives are expressed using Signal Temporal Logic (STL), while performance is quantified using standard cost functions on system trajectories. In order to prioritize the satisfaction of the hard STL constraints, we utilize the framework of control barrier functions (CBFs) and algorithmically obtain CBFs for STL objectives. We assume that the controllers are modeled using neural networks (NNs) and provide an optimization algorithm to learn the optimal parameters for the NN controller that optimize the performance at a user-specified robustness margin for the safety specifications. We use the formalism of risk measures to evaluate the risk incurred by the trade-off between robustness margin of the system and its performance. We demonstrate the efficacy of our approach on well-known difficult examples for nonlinear control such as a quad-rotor and a unicycle, where the mission objectives for each system include hard timing constraints and safety objectives.

Conventional Supervised Learning approaches focus on the mapping from input features to output labels. After training, the learnt models alone are adapted onto testing features to predict testing labels in isolation, with training data wasted and their associations ignored. To take full advantage of the vast number of training data and their associations, we propose a novel learning paradigm called Memory-Associated Differential (MAD) Learning. We first introduce an additional component called Memory to memorize all the training data. Then we learn the differences of labels as well as the associations of features in the combination of a differential equation and some sampling methods. Finally, in the evaluating phase, we predict unknown labels by inferencing from the memorized facts plus the learnt differences and associations in a geometrically meaningful manner. We gently build this theory in unary situations and apply it on Image Recognition, then extend it into Link Prediction as a binary situation, in which our method outperforms strong state-of-the-art baselines on three citation networks and ogbl-ddi dataset.

Robustness to adversarial perturbations has become an essential feature in the design of modern classifiers --in particular, of deep neural networks. This phenomenon originates from several empirical observations, such as [1] and [2], which show deep networks are vulnerable to adversarial attacks in the input space. So far, plenty of novel methodologies have been introduced to compensate for this shortcoming. Adversarial Training (AT) [3], Virtual AT [4] or Distillation [5] are just examples of some promising methods in this area. The majority of these approaches seek an effective defense against a point-wise adversary, who shifts input data-points toward adversarial directions, in a separate manner. However, as shown by [6], a distributional adversary who can shift the data distribution instead of the input data-points is provably more detrimental to learning. This suggests that one can greatly improve the robustness of a classifier by improving its defense against a distributional adversary rather than a point-wise one. This motivation has led to the development of Distributionally Robust Learning (DRL) [7], which has attracted intensive research interest over the last few years [8, 9, 10, 11]. Despite of all the advancements in supervised or unsupervised DRL, the amount of researches tackling this problem from a semi-supervised angle is slim to none [12].

Recent machine learning methods for sequential behavior prediction estimate the motives of behavior rather than the behavior itself. This higher-level abstraction improves generalization in different prediction settings, but computing predictions often becomes intractable in large decision spaces. We propose the Softstar algorithm, a softened heuristic-guided search technique for the maximum entropy inverse optimal control model of sequential behavior. This approach supports probabilistic search with bounded approximation error at a significantly reduced computational cost when compared to sampling based methods. We present the algorithm, analyze approximation guarantees, and compare performance with simulation-based inference on two distinct complex decision tasks.