Enhancing Reusability of Learned Skills for Robot Manipulation via Gaze and Bottleneck

Autonomous agents capable of diverse object manipulations should be able to acquire a wide range of manipulation skills with high reusability. Although advances in deep learning have made it increasingly feasible to replicate the dexterity of human teleoperation in robots, generalizing these acquired skills to previously unseen scenarios remains a significant challenge. In this study, we propose a novel algorithm, Gaze-based Bottleneck-aware Robot Manipulation (GazeBot), which enables high reusability of the learned motions even when the object positions and end-effector poses differ from those in the provided demonstrations. By leveraging gaze information and motion bottlenecks, both crucial features for object manipulation, GazeBot achieves high generalization performance compared with state-of-the-art imitation learning methods, without sacrificing its dexterity and reactivity. Furthermore, the training process of GazeBot is entirely data-driven once a demonstration dataset with gaze data is provided. Videos and code are available at https://crumbyrobotics.github.io/gazebot.

Unsupervised categorization of similarity measures

In general, objects can be distinguished on the basis of their features, such as color or shape. In particular, it is assumed that similarity judgments about such features can be processed independently in different metric spaces. However, the unsupervised categorization mechanism of metric spaces corresponding to object features remains unknown. Here, we show that the artificial neural network system can autonomously categorize metric spaces through representation learning to satisfy the algebraic independence between neural networks, and project sensory information onto multiple high-dimensional metric spaces to independently evaluate the differences and similarities between features. Conventional methods often constrain the axes of the latent space to be mutually independent or orthogonal. However, the independent axes are not suitable for categorizing metric spaces. High-dimensional metric spaces that are independent of each other are not uniquely determined by the mutually independent axes, because any combination of independent axes can form mutually independent spaces. In other words, the mutually independent axes cannot be used to naturally categorize different feature spaces, such as color space and shape space. Therefore, constraining the axes to be mutually independent makes it difficult to categorize high-dimensional metric spaces. To overcome this problem, we developed a method to constrain only the spaces to be mutually independent and not the composed axes to be independent. Our theory provides general conditions for the unsupervised categorization of independent metric spaces, thus advancing the mathematical theory of functional differentiation of neural networks.

Understanding via Gaze: Gaze-based Task Decomposition for Imitation Learning of Robot Manipulation

In imitation learning for robotic manipulation, decomposing object manipulation tasks into multiple semantic actions is essential. This decomposition enables the reuse of learned skills in varying contexts and the combination of acquired skills to perform novel tasks, rather than merely replicating demonstrated motions. Gaze, an evolutionary tool for understanding ongoing events, plays a critical role in human object manipulation, where it strongly correlates with motion planning. In this study, we propose a simple yet robust task decomposition method based on gaze transitions. We hypothesize that an imitation agent's gaze control, fixating on specific landmarks and transitioning between them, naturally segments demonstrated manipulations into sub-tasks. Notably, our method achieves consistent task decomposition across all demonstrations, which is desirable in contexts such as machine learning. Using teleoperation, a common modality in imitation learning for robotic manipulation, we collected demonstration data for various tasks, applied our segmentation method, and evaluated the characteristics and consistency of the resulting sub-tasks. Furthermore, through extensive testing across a wide range of hyperparameter variations, we demonstrated that the proposed method possesses the robustness necessary for application to different robotic systems.

Training Spiking Neural Networks via Augmented Direct Feedback Alignment

Spiking neural networks (SNNs), the models inspired by the mechanisms of real neurons in the brain, transmit and represent information by employing discrete action potentials or spikes. The sparse, asynchronous properties of information processing make SNNs highly energy efficient, leading to SNNs being promising solutions for implementing neural networks in neuromorphic devices. However, the nondifferentiable nature of SNN neurons makes it a challenge to train them. The current training methods of SNNs that are based on error backpropagation (BP) and precisely designing surrogate gradient are difficult to implement and biologically implausible, hindering the implementation of SNNs on neuromorphic devices. Thus, it is important to train SNNs with a method that is both physically implementatable and biologically plausible. In this paper, we propose using augmented direct feedback alignment (aDFA), a gradient-free approach based on random projection, to train SNNs. This method requires only partial information of the forward process during training, so it is easy to implement and biologically plausible. We systematically demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed aDFA-SNNs scheme, propose its effective working range, and analyze its well-performing settings by employing genetic algorithm. We also analyze the impact of crucial features of SNNs on the scheme, thus demonstrating its superiority and stability over BP and conventional direct feedback alignment. Our scheme can achieve competitive performance without accurate prior knowledge about the utilized system, thus providing a valuable reference for physically training SNNs.

How noise affects memory in linear recurrent networks

The effects of noise on memory in a linear recurrent network are theoretically investigated. Memory is characterized by its ability to store previous inputs in its instantaneous state of network, which receives a correlated or uncorrelated noise. Two major properties are revealed: First, the memory reduced by noise is uniquely determined by the noise's power spectral density (PSD). Second, the memory will not decrease regardless of noise intensity if the PSD is in a certain class of distribution (including power law). The results are verified using the human brain signals, showing good agreement.

Informational Embodiment: Computational role of information structure in codes and robots

The body morphology plays an important role in the way information is perceived and processed by an agent. We address an information theory (IT) account on how the precision of sensors, the accuracy of motors, their placement, the body geometry, shape the information structure in robots and computational codes. As an original idea, we envision the robot's body as a physical communication channel through which information is conveyed, in and out, despite intrinsic noise and material limitations. Following this, entropy, a measure of information and uncertainty, can be used to maximize the efficiency of robot design and of algorithmic codes per se. This is known as the principle of Entropy Maximization (PEM) introduced in biology by Barlow in 1969. The Shannon's source coding theorem provides then a framework to compare different types of bodies in terms of sensorimotor information. In line with PME, we introduce a special class of efficient codes used in IT that reached the Shannon limits in terms of information capacity for error correction and robustness against noise, and parsimony. These efficient codes, which exploit insightfully quantization and randomness, permit to deal with uncertainty, redundancy and compacity. These features can be used for perception and control in intelligent systems. In various examples and closing discussions, we reflect on the broader implications of our framework that we called Informational Embodiment to motor theory and bio-inspired robotics, touching upon concepts like motor synergies, reservoir computing, and morphological computation. These insights can contribute to a deeper understanding of how information theory intersects with the embodiment of intelligence in both natural and artificial systems.

Exploiting Chaotic Dynamics as Deep Neural Networks

Chaos presents complex dynamics arising from nonlinearity and a sensitivity to initial states. These characteristics suggest a depth of expressivity that underscores their potential for advanced computational applications. However, strategies to effectively exploit chaotic dynamics for information processing have largely remained elusive. In this study, we reveal that the essence of chaos can be found in various state-of-the-art deep neural networks. Drawing inspiration from this revelation, we propose a novel method that directly leverages chaotic dynamics for deep learning architectures. Our approach is systematically evaluated across distinct chaotic systems. In all instances, our framework presents superior results to conventional deep neural networks in terms of accuracy, convergence speed, and efficiency. Furthermore, we found an active role of transient chaos formation in our scheme. Collectively, this study offers a new path for the integration of chaos, which has long been overlooked in information processing, and provides insights into the prospective fusion of chaotic dynamics within the domains of machine learning and neuromorphic computation.

Assessing the Aesthetic Evaluation Capabilities of GPT-4 with Vision: Insights from Group and Individual Assessments

Recently, it has been recognized that large language models demonstrate high performance on various intellectual tasks. However, few studies have investigated alignment with humans in behaviors that involve sensibility, such as aesthetic evaluation. This study investigates the performance of GPT-4 with Vision, a state-of-the-art language model that can handle image input, on the task of aesthetic evaluation of images. We employ two tasks, prediction of the average evaluation values of a group and an individual's evaluation values. We investigate the performance of GPT-4 with Vision by exploring prompts and analyzing prediction behaviors. Experimental results reveal GPT-4 with Vision's superior performance in predicting aesthetic evaluations and the nature of different responses to beauty and ugliness. Finally, we discuss developing an AI system for aesthetic evaluation based on scientific knowledge of the human perception of beauty, employing agent technologies that integrate traditional deep learning models with large language models.

Multi-task robot data for dual-arm fine manipulation

In the field of robotic manipulation, deep imitation learning is recognized as a promising approach for acquiring manipulation skills. Additionally, learning from diverse robot datasets is considered a viable method to achieve versatility and adaptability. In such research, by learning various tasks, robots achieved generality across multiple objects. However, such multi-task robot datasets have mainly focused on single-arm tasks that are relatively imprecise, not addressing the fine-grained object manipulation that robots are expected to perform in the real world. This paper introduces a dataset of diverse object manipulations that includes dual-arm tasks and/or tasks requiring fine manipulation. To this end, we have generated dataset with 224k episodes (150 hours, 1,104 language instructions) which includes dual-arm fine tasks such as bowl-moving, pencil-case opening or banana-peeling, and this data is publicly available. Additionally, this dataset includes visual attention signals as well as dual-action labels, a signal that separates actions into a robust reaching trajectory and precise interaction with objects, and language instructions to achieve robust and precise object manipulation. We applied the dataset to our Dual-Action and Attention (DAA), a model designed for fine-grained dual arm manipulation tasks and robust against covariate shifts. The model was tested with over 7k total trials in real robot manipulation tasks, demonstrating its capability in fine manipulation. The dataset is available at https://sites.google.com/view/multi-task-fine.

Ablation Study to Clarify the Mechanism of Object Segmentation in Multi-Object Representation Learning

Multi-object representation learning aims to represent complex real-world visual input using the composition of multiple objects. Representation learning methods have often used unsupervised learning to segment an input image into individual objects and encode these objects into each latent vector. However, it is not clear how previous methods have achieved the appropriate segmentation of individual objects. Additionally, most of the previous methods regularize the latent vectors using a Variational Autoencoder (VAE). Therefore, it is not clear whether VAE regularization contributes to appropriate object segmentation. To elucidate the mechanism of object segmentation in multi-object representation learning, we conducted an ablation study on MONet, which is a typical method. MONet represents multiple objects using pairs that consist of an attention mask and the latent vector corresponding to the attention mask. Each latent vector is encoded from the input image and attention mask. Then, the component image and attention mask are decoded from each latent vector. The loss function of MONet consists of 1) the sum of reconstruction losses between the input image and decoded component image, 2) the VAE regularization loss of the latent vector, and 3) the reconstruction loss of the attention mask to explicitly encode shape information. We conducted an ablation study on these three loss functions to investigate the effect on segmentation performance. Our results showed that the VAE regularization loss did not affect segmentation performance and the others losses did affect it. Based on this result, we hypothesize that it is important to maximize the attention mask of the image region best represented by a single latent vector corresponding to the attention mask. We confirmed this hypothesis by evaluating a new loss function with the same mechanism as the hypothesis.