FlowChef steers RFMs to efficiently guide image generation tasks.
problem Efficiently guiding image generation tasks with RFMs.
method Developed a theoretical and empirical understanding of RFMs' vector field dynamics, proposing FlowChef for gradient-free navigation.
result FlowChef significantly outperforms baselines in performance, memory, and time requirements.
Gradient-free optimizers are ineffective on barren plateaus in quantum computing.
problem Effect of barren plateaus on gradient-free optimization in quantum computing.
method Numerical simulations and theoretical analysis of gradient-free optimization algorithms.
result Gradient-free optimizers are not effective in barren plateau landscapes due to exponentially suppressed cost function differences.
Gradient-free optimization for additive models achieves optimal error.
problem Optimizing noisy functions with zero-order information.
method Proposed a randomized gradient estimator for gradient-free optimization.
result Achieves minimax optimal error of order dT−(β−1)/β. Gradient-free framework for Bayesian experimental design in complex systems.
problem Optimal experimental design in systems where gradient information is unavailable.
method Combines EKI and ALDI for optimization and sampling, with approximations for scalable utility estimation.
result Demonstrates robust, accurate, and efficient experimental design in various complex systems.
We propose Kernel Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (KMC), a gradient-free adaptive MCMC algorithm based on Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (HMC). On target densities where classical HMC is not an option due to intractable gradients, KMC adaptively learns the target's gradient structure by fitting an exponential family model in a Reprod…
Gradient-free method solves infinite-dimensional optimization problems.
problem Optimizing functions in infinite-dimensional spaces.
method Uses directional derivatives and a pre-basis for Hilbert space.
result Proves convergence for solving PDEs using PINNs.
Gradient-free deep learning for large datasets.
problem Training deep neural networks on large-scale datasets is resource-intensive and requires specialized techniques.
method Recursive Local Representation Alignment (RLRA) for gradient-free training.
result RLRA achieves comparable performance to backprop while converging faster and being parallelizable.
Paper tackles gradient-free minimax optimization with variance reduction for faster convergence.
problem Gradient-free minimax optimization problems in machine learning.
method Variance reduction technique to design a novel zeroth-order gradient descent ascent algorithm.
result Achieves the best known query complexity of O(κ(d₁ + d₂)ε⁻³), outperforming previous methods.
Gradient-free method improves predictive accuracy for probabilistic models.
problem Balancing computational efficiency and robust predictive performance in deep learning.
method CAVI-CMN, a gradient-free variational method for conditional mixture networks.
result CAVI-CMN achieves competitive and often superior predictive accuracy compared to MLE with backpropagation.
New sampling method uses gradient-free IPS with RKHS velocity field.
problem Efficient sampling from unnormalized target densities.
method Gradient-free interacting particle systems (IPS) with RKHS velocity field.
result IPS produce high-quality samples from various target distributions.
STRATA generates code adversarial examples efficiently without gradients.
problem Generating adversarial examples for code that retains functional meaning.
method Uses token frequency statistics to construct gradient-free adversarial examples.
result Empirically outperforms gradient-based methods with less information and effort.
G-Sim uses LLMs to build reliable simulators for complex systems.
problem Building robust simulators for critical domains like healthcare and logistics is challenging.
method Hybrid framework combining LLM-driven structural design and empirical calibration.
result G-Sim produces reliable, causally-informed simulators that handle non-differentiable and stochastic simulators.
Monte Carlo method trains deep neural networks without gradients.
problem Vanishing and exploding gradients in backpropagation.
method Randomly mutate parameters, keep if loss decreases.
result Gradient-free method trains deep networks effectively.
Gradient-free ensemble learns sector forecasts from diverse models.
problem Predicting sector returns in a volatile market.
method Dynamic model combination using out-of-sample R-squared.
result Ensemble outperforms individual models in sector rotation.
New method optimizes black-box functions using generative models and Wasserstein distance.
problem Optimizing black-box functions with stochastic responses in high dimensions.
method Deep generative surrogate models and Wasserstein distance for uncertainty estimation.
result Method outperforms state-of-the-art methods in robustness to function shape and stochasticity.
Modern neural networks are highly non-robust against adversarial manipulation. A significant amount of work has been invested in techniques to compute lower bounds on robustness through formal guarantees and to build provably robust models. However, it is still difficult to get guarantees for larger networks or robustn…
Iterative tilting fine-tunes diffusion models for reward-tilted distributions.
problem Fine-tuning diffusion models for reward-tilted distributions.
method Decomposes large reward tilts into smaller, tractable tilts via first-order Taylor expansion, avoiding backpropagation.
result Validated on a two-dimensional Gaussian mixture, achieving exact closed-form solutions.
CPS solves inverse problems using forward passes and constrained particle seeking.
problem Solving inverse problems with limited forward observation information.
method Gradient-free approach that reformulates inverse problem as constrained optimization.
result CPS achieves results comparable to gradient-based methods while outperforming alternatives.
Amazon SageMaker AMT automates machine learning model tuning.
problem Challenging hyperparameter tuning for complex machine learning systems.
method Gradient-free optimization using random search or Bayesian optimization.
result AMT finds the best hyperparameter configurations for models.
FAKI improves gradient-free inference for inverse problems.
problem Expensive forward models without gradients.
method Temperature annealing with normalizing flows.
result Dramatic improvements in accuracy over EKI.
Introduces a natural parallel translation for navigation data.
problem Navigation data geometric representation and parallelism.
method Introduces a natural parallel translation using Riemannian parallelism.
result The natural parallel translation preserves the Randers norm and has a finite-dimensional holonomy group.
Challenge to separate Earth's magnetic field from vehicle's magnetic field for accurate navigation.
problem Separate Earth's magnetic field from vehicle's magnetic field for accurate magnetic navigation.
method Use machine learning (ML) and integrate physics of magnetic navigation (SciML) to remove aircraft magnetic field from total magnetic field.
result A model can be constructed to effectively remove aircraft magnetic field from the dataset.
Gradient-based methods are often used for policy optimization in deep reinforcement learning, despite being vulnerable to local optima and saddle points. Although gradient-free methods (e.g., genetic algorithms or evolution strategies) help mitigate these issues, poor initialization and local optima are still concerns …
Most common navigation tasks in human environments require auxiliary arm interactions, e.g. opening doors, pressing buttons and pushing obstacles away. This type of navigation tasks, which we call Interactive Navigation, requires the use of mobile manipulators: mobile bases with manipulation capabilities. Interactive N…
Navigation in Lorentz Finsler geometry induces isoparametric hypersurfaces.
problem Defining and analyzing isoparametric hypersurfaces in Lorentz Finsler geometry.
method Using a navigation process with a Finsler metric and a tangent vector field, isoparametric functions and hypersurfaces are defined and analyzed.
result Local correspondences between isoparametric functions and hypersurfaces are established.
StarNet trains deep models without gradients using linear equations.
problem Training deep generative models with gradients.
method Solving determined systems of linear equations.
result Least-square bounds for latent codes and model parameters.
The paper solves navigation problems on conic Kropina manifolds and establishes curvature relationships.
problem Navigation problems on conic Kropina manifolds.
method Analyzes the solution of navigation problems and establishes curvature relationships.
result The solution to navigation problems on conic Kropina manifolds must be either a Randers metric or a Kropina metric.
Robotic navigation improves with RL and ultrasound images.
problem Improving accuracy in robotic navigation for ultrasound-guided procedures.
method Combines deep Q-networks with ultrasound images and binary classifier.
result Significantly improved navigation accuracy compared to pure RL and SL.
Improved robot navigation using multi-head attention for natural language instructions.
problem Improving robot navigation in unfamiliar environments.
method Proposes a multi-head attention mechanism blending layer in a neural network model.
result Significant performance gains in translating instructions for unseen environments.
RSO uses random weight perturbations to train deep networks without gradients.
problem Training deep neural networks efficiently and without gradient information.
method RSO is a gradient-free Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach that updates weights based on mini-batch loss reduction.
result RSO achieves high accuracy (99.1% on MNIST) with significantly fewer updates than traditional methods.
The problem of pursuing a moving target is always one of the main topics in navigation. In the literatures, there are two well-known algorithms called Pure Pursuit and Pure Rendezvous navigation in the 3-dimensional space R3. In this paper, these two methods are combined to introduce a novel family of pursu…
Mobile robot navigation in complex and dynamic environments is a challenging but important problem. Reinforcement learning approaches fail to solve these tasks efficiently due to reward sparsities, temporal complexities and high-dimensionality of sensorimotor spaces which are inherent in such problems. We present a nov…
SLAM-net learns to navigate visually in challenging indoor environments.
problem Challenges in SLAM for visual robot navigation, especially in noisy conditions.
method Differentiable SLAM Network (SLAM-net) that encodes a particle filter SLAM algorithm in a differentiable graph and learns components through backpropagation.
result Significantly outperforms ORB-SLAM in noisy conditions and improves the Habitat Challenge 2020 PointNav task.
Improves AI agents' 3D navigation by learning from failures and 3D spatial relationships.
problem Challenges in data efficiency, obstacle avoidance, and generalization in 3D visual navigation.
method Incorporates attention on 3D spatial relationships and a target skill extension module into DRL framework.
result Significantly improves navigation performance and generalization across targets and scenes.
Bayesian model for energy consumption helps electric vehicles navigate efficiently.
problem Limited battery capacity in electric vehicles makes energy efficient navigation challenging.
method Developed an online learning framework using Bayesian models and exploration strategies like Thompson Sampling.
result Established rigorous regret bounds for Thompson Sampling in both single-agent and multi-agent settings.
This work analyzes minimum-time navigation on Riemannian manifolds using Finsler geometry.
problem Minimum-time navigation on Riemannian manifolds.
method Finsler geometry, introducing superwind concept, extending (α,β)-metrics. result Time-minimizing geodesics and necessary/sufficient conditions for strong convexity.
Deep learning agent improves pedestrian navigation in urban environments.
problem Autonomous driving among pedestrians in urban areas.
method Multi-objective deep reinforcement learning using a deep Q-learning variant.
result The multi-objective DQN agent outperforms single-objective DQN in various environments.
Bayesian model for energy-efficient EV navigation.
problem Limited battery capacity in electric vehicles.
method Bayesian modeling and online learning framework with exploration strategies.
result Established rigorous regret bounds for Thompson Sampling.
Solves time-minimizing navigation on a mountain slope using Riemann-Finsler geometry.
problem Time-minimizing navigation on a mountain slope under gravity.
method Riemann-Finsler geometry, Zermelo navigation problem, anisotropic deformation of the background Riemannian metric, rescaled gravitational wind.
result A new Finsler metric for optimal navigation on slippery mountain slopes.
This paper reviews zeroth-order optimization in signal processing and machine learning.
problem Optimization problems without gradient information.
method Iterative steps: gradient estimation, descent direction computation, solution update.
result Demonstrates applications in robustness evaluation and black-box model explanations.
Deep reinforcement learning (RL) has been successfully applied to a variety of game-like environments. However, the application of deep RL to visual navigation with realistic environments is a challenging task. We propose a novel learning architecture capable of navigating an agent, e.g. a mobile robot, to a target giv…
The paper develops a method to learn navigation costs from expert demonstrations in partially observable environments.
problem Learning navigation costs from expert demonstrations in partially observable environments.
method Develops a cost function representation composed of a probabilistic occupancy encoder and a cost encoder, optimized by differentiating the error between demonstrated controls and a control policy computed from the cost encoder.
result The method outperforms baseline IRL algorithms in robot navigation tasks, improving both training and test-time efficiency.
A faster method for estimating effects in large data using fixed-point trees.
problem Estimating heterogeneous effects in large dimensions with computational efficiency.
method Fixed-point approximation to eliminate Jacobian estimation and speed up GRFs.
result Significant computational efficiency improvement without sacrificing statistical accuracy.
New algorithms solve time-dependent navigation problems, including zig-zag paths.
problem Finding optimal paths in moving water with varying speed profiles.
method Lorentz-Finsler geometry, novel computational algorithms.
result Optimal paths may involve zig-zag trajectories due to tacking behavior.
VALAN is a lightweight and scalable software framework for deep reinforcement learning based on the SEED RL architecture. The framework facilitates the development and evaluation of embodied agents for solving grounded language understanding tasks, such as Vision-and-Language Navigation and Vision-and-Dialog Navigation…
OtoWorld helps agents learn to navigate by listening in interactive environments.
problem Training agents to navigate using auditory information.
method Interactive environment with agents learning to listen and navigate.
result Agents can win at OtoWorld, a navigation game with sound sources.
Stein variational gradient decent (SVGD) has been shown to be a powerful approximate inference algorithm for complex distributions. However, the standard SVGD requires calculating the gradient of the target density and cannot be applied when the gradient is unavailable. In this work, we develop a gradient-free variant …
Paper introduces timing-based adversarial attacks on DRL-based navigation systems.
problem Vulnerability of DRL-based navigation systems to adversarial attacks.
method Timing-based adversarial strategies using physical noise patterns.
result Adversarial timing attacks significantly degrade DRL-based navigation performance.