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2023


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Natural Language Processing for Policymaking

Jin, Z., Mihalcea, R.

In Handbook of Computational Social Science for Policy, pages: 141-162, 7, (Editors: Bertoni, E. and Fontana, M. and Gabrielli, L. and Signorelli, S. and Vespe, M.), Springer International Publishing, 2023 (inbook)

ei

DOI [BibTex]

2023


DOI [BibTex]


Synchronizing Machine Learning Algorithms, Realtime Robotic Control and Simulated Environment with o80
Synchronizing Machine Learning Algorithms, Realtime Robotic Control and Simulated Environment with o80

Berenz, V., Widmaier, F., Guist, S., Schölkopf, B., Büchler, D.

Robot Software Architectures Workshop (RSA) 2023, ICRA, 2023 (techreport)

Abstract
Robotic applications require the integration of various modalities, encompassing perception, control of real robots and possibly the control of simulated environments. While the state-of-the-art robotic software solutions such as ROS 2 provide most of the required features, flexible synchronization between algorithms, data streams and control loops can be tedious. o80 is a versatile C++ framework for robotics which provides a shared memory model and a command framework for real-time critical systems. It enables expert users to set up complex robotic systems and generate Python bindings for scientists. o80's unique feature is its flexible synchronization between processes, including the traditional blocking commands and the novel ``bursting mode'', which allows user code to control the execution of the lower process control loop. This makes it particularly useful for setups that mix real and simulated environments.

ei

arxiv poster link (url) [BibTex]


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Challenging Common Assumptions in Multi-task Learning

Elich, C., Kirchdorfer, L., Köhler, J. M., Schott, L.

abs/2311.04698, CoRR/arxiv, 2023 (techreport)

ev

paper link (url) [BibTex]

paper link (url) [BibTex]

2022


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Life Improvement Science

Lieder, F., Prentice, M.

In Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research, Springer, November 2022 (inbook)

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[BibTex]

2022


[BibTex]


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Causality, causal digital twins, and their applications

Schölkopf, B.

Machine Learning for Science: Bridging Data-Driven and Mechanistic Modelling (Dagstuhl Seminar 22382), (Editors: Berens, Philipp and Cranmer, Kyle and Lawrence, Neil D. and von Luxburg, Ulrike and Montgomery, Jessica), September 2022 (talk)

ei

link (url) DOI [BibTex]

link (url) DOI [BibTex]


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Proceedings of the First Conference on Causal Learning and Reasoning (CLeaR 2022)

Schölkopf, B., Uhler, C., Zhang, K.

177, Proceedings of Machine Learning Research, PMLR, April 2022 (proceedings)

ei

link (url) [BibTex]

link (url) [BibTex]


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Observability Analysis of Visual-Inertial Odometry with Online Calibration of Velocity-Control Based Kinematic Motion Models

Li, H., Stueckler, J.

abs/2204.06651, CoRR/arxiv, 2022 (techreport)

Abstract
In this paper, we analyze the observability of the visual-inertial odometry (VIO) using stereo cameras with a velocity-control based kinematic motion model. Previous work shows that in general case the global position and yaw are unobservable in VIO system, additionally the roll and pitch become also unobservable if there is no rotation. We prove that by integrating a planar motion constraint roll and pitch become observable. We also show that the parameters of the motion model are observable.

ev

link (url) [BibTex]


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Causal Models for Dynamical Systems

Peters, J., Bauer, S., Pfister, N.

In Probabilistic and Causal Inference: The Works of Judea Pearl, pages: 671-690, 1, Association for Computing Machinery, 2022 (inbook)

ei

arXiv DOI [BibTex]

arXiv DOI [BibTex]


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Causality for Machine Learning

Schölkopf, B.

In Probabilistic and Causal Inference: The Works of Judea Pearl, pages: 765-804, 1, Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 2022 (inbook)

ei

arXiv DOI [BibTex]

arXiv DOI [BibTex]

2021


Magnetic Micro-/Nanopropellers  for Biomedicine
Magnetic Micro-/Nanopropellers for Biomedicine

Qiu, T., Jeong, M., Goyal, R., Kadiri, V., Sachs, J., Fischer, P.

In Field-Driven Micro and Nanorobots for Biology and Medicine, pages: 389-410, 16, (Editors: Sun, Y. and Wang, X. and Yu, J.), Springer Nature, November 2021 (inbook)

Abstract
In nature, many bacteria swim by rotating their helical flagella. A particularly promising class of artificial micro- and nano-robots mimic this propeller-like propulsion mechanism to move through fluids and tissues for applications in minimally-invasive medicine. Several fundamental challenges have to be overcome in order to build micro-machines that move similar to bacteria for in vivo applications. Here, we review recent advances of magnetically-powered micro-/nano-propellers. Four important aspects of the propellers – the geometrical shape, the fabrication method, the generation of magnetic fields for actuation, and the choice of biocompatible magnetic materials – are highlighted. First, the fundamental requirements are elucidated that arise due to hydrodynamics at low Reynolds (Re) number. We discuss the role that the propellers’ shape and symmetry play in realizing effective propulsion at low Re. Second, the additive nano-fabrication method Glancing Angle Deposition is discussed as a versatile technique to quickly grow large numbers of designer nano-helices. Third, systems to generate rotating magnetic fields via permanent magnets or electromagnetic coils are presented. And finally, the biocompatibility of the magnetic materials is discussed. Iron-platinum is highlighted due to its biocompatibility and its superior magnetic properties, which is promising for targeted delivery, minimally-invasive magnetic nano-devices and biomedical applications.

pf

link (url) DOI [BibTex]

2021


link (url) DOI [BibTex]


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Physically Plausible Tracking & Reconstruction of Dynamic Objects

Strecke, M., Stückler, J.

KIT Science Week Scientific Conference & DGR-Days 2021, October 2021 (talk)

ev

[BibTex]

[BibTex]


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Electriflow: Augmenting Books With Tangible Animation Using Soft Electrohydraulic Actuators

Purnendu, , Novack, S., Acome, E., Alistar, M., Keplinger, C., Gross, M. D., Bruns, C., Leithinger, D.

In ACM SIGGRAPH 2021 Labs, pages: 1-2, Association for Computing Machinery, SIGGRAPH 2021, August 2021 (inbook)

Abstract
We present Electriflow: a method of augmenting books with tangible animation employing soft electrohydraulic actuators. These actuators are compact, silent and fast in operation, and can be fabricated with commodity materials. They generate an immediate hydraulic force upon electrostatic activation without an external fluid supply source, enabling a simple and self-contained design. Electriflow actuators produce an immediate shape transition from flat to folded state which enabled their seamless integration into books. For the Emerging Technologies exhibit, we will demonstrate the prototype of a book augmented with the capability of tangible animation.

rm

Supplemental Material link (url) DOI [BibTex]

Supplemental Material link (url) DOI [BibTex]


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Proceedings of the 1st Workshop on NLP for Positive Impact

Field, A., Prabhumoye, S., Sap, M., Jin, Z., Zhao, J., Brockett, C.

Association for Computational Linguistics, August 2021 (proceedings)

ei

link (url) [BibTex]

link (url) [BibTex]


Improving Human Decision-Making by Discovering Efficient Strategies for Hierarchical Planning
Improving Human Decision-Making by Discovering Efficient Strategies for Hierarchical Planning

Heindrich, L., Consul, S., Stojcheski, J., Lieder, F.

Tübingen, Germany, The first edition of Life Improvement Science Conference, June 2021 (talk) Accepted

Abstract
The discovery of decision strategies is an essential part of creating effective cognitive tutors that teach planning and decision-making skills to humans. In the context of bounded rationality, this requires weighing the benefits of different planning operations compared to their computational costs. For small decision problems, it has already been shown that near-optimal decision strategies can be discovered automatically and that the discovered strategies can be taught to humans to increase their performance. Unfortunately, these near-optimal strategy discovery algorithms have not been able to scale well to larger problems due to their computational complexity. In this talk, we will present recent work at the Rationality Enhancement Group to overcome the computational bottleneck of existing strategy discovery algorithms. Our approach makes use of the hierarchical structure of human behavior by decomposing sequential decision problems into two sub-problems: setting a goal and planning how to achieve it. An additional metacontroller component is introduced to switch the current goal when it becomes beneficial. The hierarchical decomposition enables us to discover near-optimal strategies for human planning in larger and more complex tasks than previously possible. We then show in online experiments that teaching the discovered strategies to humans improves their performance in complex sequential decision-making tasks.

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Project Page [BibTex]

Project Page [BibTex]


Toward a Science of Effective Well-Doing
Toward a Science of Effective Well-Doing

Lieder, F., Prentice, M., Corwin-Renner, E.

May 2021 (techreport)

Abstract
Well-doing, broadly construed, encompasses acting and thinking in ways that contribute to humanity’s flourishing in the long run. This often takes the form of setting a prosocial goal and pursuing it over an extended period of time. To set and pursue goals in a way that is extremely beneficial for humanity (effective well-doing), people often have to employ critical thinking and far-sighted, rational decision-making in the service of the greater good. To promote effective well-doing, we need to better understand its determinants and psychological mechanisms, as well as the barriers to effective well-doing and how they can be overcome. In this article, we introduce a taxonomy of different forms of well-doing and introduce a conceptual model of the cognitive mechanisms of effective well-doing. We view effective well-doing as the upper end of a moral continuum whose lower half comprises behaviors that are harmful to humanity (ill-doing), and we argue that the capacity for effective well-doing has to be developed through personal growth (e.g., learning how to pursue goals effectively). Research on these phenomena has so far been scattered across numerous disconnected literatures from multiple disciplines. To bring these communities together, we call for the establishment of a transdisciplinary research field focussed on understanding and promoting effective well-doing and personal growth as well as understanding and reducing ill-doing. We define this research field in terms of its goals and questions. We review what is already known about these questions in different disciplines and argue that laying the scientific foundation for promoting effective well-doing is one of the most valuable contributions that the behavioral sciences can make in the 21st century.

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Preprint Project Page [BibTex]

2020


Optimal To-Do List Gamification
Optimal To-Do List Gamification

Stojcheski, J., Felso, V., Lieder, F.

ArXiv Preprint, 2020 (techreport)

Abstract
What should I work on first? What can wait until later? Which projects should I prioritize and which tasks are not worth my time? These are challenging questions that many people face every day. People’s intuitive strategy is to prioritize their immediate experience over the long-term consequences. This leads to procrastination and the neglect of important long-term projects in favor of seemingly urgent tasks that are less important. Optimal gamification strives to help people overcome these problems by incentivizing each task by a number of points that communicates how valuable it is in the long-run. Unfortunately, computing the optimal number of points with standard dynamic programming methods quickly becomes intractable as the number of a person’s projects and the number of tasks required by each project increase. Here, we introduce and evaluate a scalable method for identifying which tasks are most important in the long run and incentivizing each task according to its long-term value. Our method makes it possible to create to-do list gamification apps that can handle the size and complexity of people’s to-do lists in the real world.

re

link (url) DOI Project Page [BibTex]


Excursion Search for Constrained Bayesian Optimization under a Limited Budget of Failures
Excursion Search for Constrained Bayesian Optimization under a Limited Budget of Failures

Marco, A., Rohr, A. V., Baumann, D., Hernández-Lobato, J. M., Trimpe, S.

2020 (proceedings) In revision

Abstract
When learning to ride a bike, a child falls down a number of times before achieving the first success. As falling down usually has only mild consequences, it can be seen as a tolerable failure in exchange for a faster learning process, as it provides rich information about an undesired behavior. In the context of Bayesian optimization under unknown constraints (BOC), typical strategies for safe learning explore conservatively and avoid failures by all means. On the other side of the spectrum, non conservative BOC algorithms that allow failing may fail an unbounded number of times before reaching the optimum. In this work, we propose a novel decision maker grounded in control theory that controls the amount of risk we allow in the search as a function of a given budget of failures. Empirical validation shows that our algorithm uses the failures budget more efficiently in a variety of optimization experiments, and generally achieves lower regret, than state-of-the-art methods. In addition, we propose an original algorithm for unconstrained Bayesian optimization inspired by the notion of excursion sets in stochastic processes, upon which the failures-aware algorithm is built.

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arXiv code (python) PDF [BibTex]


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TUM Flyers: Vision-Based MAV Navigation for Systematic Inspection of Structures

Usenko, V., Stumberg, L. V., Stückler, J., Cremers, D.

In Bringing Innovative Robotic Technologies from Research Labs to Industrial End-users: The Experience of the European Robotics Challenges, 136, pages: 189-209, Springer International Publishing, 2020 (inbook)

ev

link (url) [BibTex]

link (url) [BibTex]


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Adopting the Boundary Homogenization Approximation from Chemical Kinetics to Motile Chemically Active Particles

Popescu, M. N., Uspal, W. E.

In Chemical Kinetics, pages: 517-540, (Editors: Lindenberg, Katja and Metzler, Ralf and Oshanin, Gleb), World Scientific, New Jersey, NJ, 2020 (incollection)

icm

DOI [BibTex]

DOI [BibTex]


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Soft Microrobots Based on Photoresponsive Materials

Palagi, S.

In Mechanically Responsive Materials for Soft Robotics, pages: 327-362, (Editors: Koshima, Hideko), Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2020 (incollection)

pf

DOI [BibTex]

DOI [BibTex]

2019


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Multivariate coupling estimation between continuous signals and point processes

Safavi, S., Logothetis, N., Besserve, M.

Neural Information Processing Systems 2019 - Workshop on Learning with Temporal Point Processes, December 2019 (talk)

ei

Talk video link (url) [BibTex]

2019


Talk video link (url) [BibTex]


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Nanomagnetismus im Röntgenlicht

Schütz, G.

In Vielfältige Physik, pages: 173-182, Springer Spektrum, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2019 (incollection)

mms

DOI [BibTex]

DOI [BibTex]


Scientific Report 2016 - 2018
Scientific Report 2016 - 2018
2019 (mpi_year_book)

Abstract
This report presents research done at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems from January 2016 to December 2018. It is our third report since the founding of the institute in 2011. This status report is organized as follows: we begin with an overview of the institute, including its organizational structure (Chapter 1). The central part of the scientific report consists of chapters on the research conducted by the institute’s departments (Chapters 2 to 5) and its independent research groups (Chapters 6 to 18), as well as the work of the institute’s central scientific facilities (Chapter 19). For entities founded after January 2016, the respective report sections cover work done from the date of the establishment of the department, group, or facility.

ei hi ps pi

Scientific Report 2016 - 2018 [BibTex]


Das Tier als Modell für Roboter, und Roboter als Modell für Tiere
Das Tier als Modell für Roboter, und Roboter als Modell für Tiere

Badri-Spröwitz, A.

In pages: 167-175, Springer, 2019 (incollection)

dlg

DOI [BibTex]

DOI [BibTex]

2018


Nanoscale robotic agents in biological fluids and tissues
Nanoscale robotic agents in biological fluids and tissues

Palagi, S., Walker, D. Q. T., Fischer, P.

In The Encyclopedia of Medical Robotics, 2, pages: 19-42, 2, (Editors: Desai, J. P. and Ferreira, A.), World Scientific, October 2018 (inbook)

Abstract
Nanorobots are untethered structures of sub-micron size that can be controlled in a non-trivial way. Such nanoscale robotic agents are envisioned to revolutionize medicine by enabling minimally invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. To be useful, nanorobots must be operated in complex biological fluids and tissues, which are often difficult to penetrate. In this chapter, we first discuss potential medical applications of motile nanorobots. We briefly present the challenges related to swimming at such small scales and we survey the rheological properties of some biological fluids and tissues. We then review recent experimental results in the development of nanorobots and in particular their design, fabrication, actuation, and propulsion in complex biological fluids and tissues. Recent work shows that their nanoscale dimension is a clear asset for operation in biological tissues, since many biological tissues consist of networks of macromolecules that prevent the passage of larger micron-scale structures, but contain dynamic pores through which nanorobots can move.

pf

link (url) DOI [BibTex]

2018


link (url) DOI [BibTex]


Impact of Trunk Orientation  for Dynamic Bipedal Locomotion
Impact of Trunk Orientation for Dynamic Bipedal Locomotion

Drama, Ö.

Dynamic Walking Conference, May 2018 (talk)

Abstract
Impact of trunk orientation for dynamic bipedal locomotion My research revolves around investigating the functional demands of bipedal running, with focus on stabilizing trunk orientation. When we think about postural stability, there are two critical questions we need to answer: What are the necessary and sufficient conditions to achieve and maintain trunk stability? I am concentrating on how morphology affects control strategies in achieving trunk stability. In particular, I denote the trunk pitch as the predominant morphology parameter and explore the requirements it imposes on a chosen control strategy. To analyze this, I use a spring loaded inverted pendulum model extended with a rigid trunk, which is actuated by a hip motor. The challenge for the controller design here is to have a single hip actuator to achieve two coupled tasks of moving the legs to generate motion and stabilizing the trunk. I enforce orthograde and pronograde postures and aim to identify the effect of these trunk orientations on the hip torque and ground reaction profiles for different control strategies.

dlg

Impact of trunk orientation for dynamic bipedal locomotion [DW 2018] link (url) [BibTex]


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Haptics and Haptic Interfaces

Kuchenbecker, K. J.

In Encyclopedia of Robotics, (Editors: Marcelo H. Ang and Oussama Khatib and Bruno Siciliano), Springer, May 2018 (incollection)

Abstract
Haptics is an interdisciplinary field that seeks to both understand and engineer touch-based interaction. Although a wide range of systems and applications are being investigated, haptics researchers often concentrate on perception and manipulation through the human hand. A haptic interface is a mechatronic system that modulates the physical interaction between a human and his or her tangible surroundings. Haptic interfaces typically involve mechanical, electrical, and computational layers that work together to sense user motions or forces, quickly process these inputs with other information, and physically respond by actuating elements of the user’s surroundings, thereby enabling him or her to act on and feel a remote and/or virtual environment.

hi

DOI [BibTex]

DOI [BibTex]


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Detailed Dense Inference with Convolutional Neural Networks via Discrete Wavelet Transform

Ma, L., Stueckler, J., Wu, T., Cremers, D.

arxiv, 2018, arXiv:1808.01834 (techreport)

ev

[BibTex]

[BibTex]


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Maschinelles Lernen: Entwicklung ohne Grenzen?

Schölkopf, B.

In Mit Optimismus in die Zukunft schauen. Künstliche Intelligenz - Chancen und Rahmenbedingungen, pages: 26-34, (Editors: Bender, G. and Herbrich, R. and Siebenhaar, K.), B&S Siebenhaar Verlag, 2018 (incollection)

ei

[BibTex]

[BibTex]


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Methods in Psychophysics

Wichmann, F. A., Jäkel, F.

In Stevens’ Handbook of Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, 5 (Methodology), 7, 4th, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2018 (inbook)

ei

[BibTex]

[BibTex]


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Transfer Learning for BCIs

Jayaram, V., Fiebig, K., Peters, J., Grosse-Wentrup, M.

In Brain–Computer Interfaces Handbook, pages: 425-442, 22, (Editors: Chang S. Nam, Anton Nijholt and Fabien Lotte), CRC Press, 2018 (incollection)

ei

[BibTex]

[BibTex]


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Nanorobots propel through the eye

Wu, Z., Troll, J., Jeong, H., Qiang, W., Stang, M., Ziemssen, F., Wang, Z., Dong, M., Schnichels, S., Qiu, T., Fischer, P.

Max Planck Society, 2018 (mpi_year_book)

Abstract
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart developed specially coated nanometer-sized robots that could be moved actively through dense tissue like the vitreous of the eye. So far, the transport of such nano-vehicles has only been demonstrated in model systems or biological fluids, but not in real tissue. Our work constitutes one step further towards nanorobots becoming minimally-invasive tools for precisely delivering medicine to where it is needed.

pf

link (url) [BibTex]

link (url) [BibTex]

2017


Chapter 8 - Micro- and nanorobots in Newtonian and biological viscoelastic fluids
Chapter 8 - Micro- and nanorobots in Newtonian and biological viscoelastic fluids

Palagi, S., (Walker) Schamel, D., Qiu, T., Fischer, P.

In Microbiorobotics, pages: 133 - 162, 8, Micro and Nano Technologies, Second edition, Elsevier, Boston, March 2017 (incollection)

Abstract
Swimming microorganisms are a source of inspiration for small scale robots that are intended to operate in fluidic environments including complex biomedical fluids. Nature has devised swimming strategies that are effective at small scales and at low Reynolds number. These include the rotary corkscrew motion that, for instance, propels a flagellated bacterial cell, as well as the asymmetric beat of appendages that sperm cells or ciliated protozoa use to move through fluids. These mechanisms can overcome the reciprocity that governs the hydrodynamics at small scale. The complex molecular structure of biologically important fluids presents an additional challenge for the effective propulsion of microrobots. In this chapter it is shown how physical and chemical approaches are essential in realizing engineered abiotic micro- and nanorobots that can move in biomedically important environments. Interestingly, we also describe a microswimmer that is effective in biological viscoelastic fluids that does not have a natural analogue.

pf

link (url) DOI [BibTex]

2017


link (url) DOI [BibTex]


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Robot Learning

Peters, J., Lee, D., Kober, J., Nguyen-Tuong, D., Bagnell, J., Schaal, S.

In Springer Handbook of Robotics, pages: 357-394, 15, 2nd, (Editors: Siciliano, Bruno and Khatib, Oussama), Springer International Publishing, 2017 (inbook)

am ei

[BibTex]

[BibTex]


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Policy Gradient Methods

Peters, J., Bagnell, J.

In Encyclopedia of Machine Learning and Data Mining, pages: 982-985, 2nd, (Editors: Sammut, Claude and Webb, Geoffrey I.), Springer US, 2017 (inbook)

ei

link (url) [BibTex]

link (url) [BibTex]


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Unsupervised clustering of EOG as a viable substitute for optical eye-tracking

Flad, N., Fomina, T., Bülthoff, H. H., Chuang, L. L.

In First Workshop on Eye Tracking and Visualization (ETVIS 2015), pages: 151-167, Mathematics and Visualization, (Editors: Burch, M., Chuang, L., Fisher, B., Schmidt, A., and Weiskopf, D.), Springer, 2017 (inbook)

ei

DOI [BibTex]

DOI [BibTex]


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Robot Learning

Peters, J., Tedrake, R., Roy, N., Morimoto, J.

In Encyclopedia of Machine Learning and Data Mining, pages: 1106-1109, 2nd, (Editors: Sammut, Claude and Webb, Geoffrey I.), Springer US, 2017 (inbook)

ei

DOI [BibTex]

DOI [BibTex]


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Statistical Asymmetries Between Cause and Effect

Janzing, D.

In Time in Physics, pages: 129-139, Tutorials, Schools, and Workshops in the Mathematical Sciences, (Editors: Renner, Renato and Stupar, Sandra), Springer International Publishing, Cham, 2017 (inbook)

ei

link (url) DOI [BibTex]

link (url) DOI [BibTex]


Decentralized Simultaneous Multi-target Exploration using a Connected Network of Multiple Robots
Decentralized Simultaneous Multi-target Exploration using a Connected Network of Multiple Robots

Nestmeyer, T., Robuffo Giordano, P., Bülthoff, H. H., Franchi, A.

In pages: 989-1011, Autonomous Robots, 2017 (incollection)

ps

[BibTex]

[BibTex]


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Momentum-Centered Control of Contact Interactions

Righetti, L., Herzog, A.

In Geometric and Numerical Foundations of Movements, 117, pages: 339-359, Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics, Springer, Cham, 2017 (incollection)

mg

link (url) [BibTex]

link (url) [BibTex]

2016


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Proceedings of the 32nd Conference on Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence (UAI)

Ihler, A. T., Janzing, D.

pages: 869 pages, AUAI Press, June 2016 (proceedings)

ei

link (url) [BibTex]

2016


link (url) [BibTex]


Implications of Action-Oriented Paradigm Shifts in Cognitive Science
Implications of Action-Oriented Paradigm Shifts in Cognitive Science

Dominey, P. F., Prescott, T. J., Bohg, J., Engel, A. K., Gallagher, S., Heed, T., Hoffmann, M., Knoblich, G., Prinz, W., Schwartz, A.

In The Pragmatic Turn - Toward Action-Oriented Views in Cognitive Science, 18, pages: 333-356, 20, Strüngmann Forum Reports, vol. 18, J. Lupp, series editor, (Editors: Andreas K. Engel and Karl J. Friston and Danica Kragic), The MIT Press, 18th Ernst Strüngmann Forum, May 2016 (incollection) In press

Abstract
An action-oriented perspective changes the role of an individual from a passive observer to an actively engaged agent interacting in a closed loop with the world as well as with others. Cognition exists to serve action within a landscape that contains both. This chapter surveys this landscape and addresses the status of the pragmatic turn. Its potential influence on science and the study of cognition are considered (including perception, social cognition, social interaction, sensorimotor entrainment, and language acquisition) and its impact on how neuroscience is studied is also investigated (with the notion that brains do not passively build models, but instead support the guidance of action). A review of its implications in robotics and engineering includes a discussion of the application of enactive control principles to couple action and perception in robotics as well as the conceptualization of system design in a more holistic, less modular manner. Practical applications that can impact the human condition are reviewed (e.g. educational applications, treatment possibilities for developmental and psychopathological disorders, the development of neural prostheses). All of this foreshadows the potential societal implications of the pragmatic turn. The chapter concludes that an action-oriented approach emphasizes a continuum of interaction between technical aspects of cognitive systems and robotics, biology, psychology, the social sciences, and the humanities, where the individual is part of a grounded cultural system.

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The Pragmatic Turn - Toward Action-Oriented Views in Cognitive Science 18th Ernst Strüngmann Forum Bibliography Chapter link (url) [BibTex]

The Pragmatic Turn - Toward Action-Oriented Views in Cognitive Science 18th Ernst Strüngmann Forum Bibliography Chapter link (url) [BibTex]


Learning Action-Perception Cycles in Robotics: A Question of Representations and Embodiment
Learning Action-Perception Cycles in Robotics: A Question of Representations and Embodiment

Bohg, J., Kragic, D.

In The Pragmatic Turn - Toward Action-Oriented Views in Cognitive Science, 18, pages: 309-320, 18, Strüngmann Forum Reports, vol. 18, J. Lupp, series editor, (Editors: Andreas K. Engel and Karl J. Friston and Danica Kragic), The MIT Press, 18th Ernst Strüngmann Forum, May 2016 (incollection) In press

Abstract
Since the 1950s, robotics research has sought to build a general-purpose agent capable of autonomous, open-ended interaction with realistic, unconstrained environments. Cognition is perceived to be at the core of this process, yet understanding has been challenged because cognition is referred to differently within and across research areas, and is not clearly defined. The classic robotics approach is decomposition into functional modules which perform planning, reasoning, and problem-solving or provide input to these mechanisms. Although advancements have been made and numerous success stories reported in specific niches, this systems-engineering approach has not succeeded in building such a cognitive agent. The emergence of an action-oriented paradigm offers a new approach: action and perception are no longer separable into functional modules but must be considered in a complete loop. This chapter reviews work on different mechanisms for action- perception learning and discusses the role of embodiment in the design of the underlying representations and learning. It discusses the evaluation of agents and suggests the development of a new embodied Turing Test. Appropriate scenarios need to be devised in addition to current competitions, so that abilities can be tested over long time periods.

am

18th Ernst Strüngmann Forum The Pragmatic Turn- Toward Action-Oriented Views in Cognitive Science Bibliography Chapter link (url) [BibTex]

18th Ernst Strüngmann Forum The Pragmatic Turn- Toward Action-Oriented Views in Cognitive Science Bibliography Chapter link (url) [BibTex]


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Supplemental material for ’Communication Rate Analysis for Event-based State Estimation’

Ebner, S., Trimpe, S.

Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, January 2016 (techreport)

am ics

PDF [BibTex]

PDF [BibTex]