IPAB Workshop - 20/02/2025 Speaker: João Pousa De Moura Title: Non-prehensile Manipulation through RL Abstract: Manipulation without grasping, known as non-prehensile manipulation, is essential for dexterous robots in contact-rich environments, but presents many challenges relating with under-actuation, hybrid-dynamics, and frictional uncertainty. Additionally, object occlusions in a scenario of contact uncertainty, and where there is a relative motion between the object and the robot, becomes a critical problem. In this talk, I will present some of our recent work on non-prehensile manipulation through a model-free paradigm with reinforcement learning. In particular, I will discuss our findings on leveraging multimodal categorical exploration to unlock significant performance improvements, as well as learning visuotactile state estimators and uncertainty-aware control policies to enable non-prehensile manipulation under visual occlusions. Speaker: Cora Hummert Title: Depth estimation with light field Cameras: What can we learn from insect eyes? Abstract: Fast and accurate depth estimation remains a major challenge in computer vision, particularly at long distances and in dynamic scenes.Inspired by biological vision, we explore the similarities between insect compound eyes and light field cameras - both of which enable depth perception by capturing multiple viewpoints of a scene. Additionally, we investigate whether the light-induced motion of photoreceptors in the fly eye can be used to estimate depth or enhance depth perception. In this talk, I will outline recent ideas and present preliminary results from simulations of a pinhole light field camera. Feb 20 2025 13.00 - 14.00 IPAB Workshop - 20/02/2025 João Pousa De Moura & Cora Hummert G.03
IPAB Workshop - 20/02/2025 Speaker: João Pousa De Moura Title: Non-prehensile Manipulation through RL Abstract: Manipulation without grasping, known as non-prehensile manipulation, is essential for dexterous robots in contact-rich environments, but presents many challenges relating with under-actuation, hybrid-dynamics, and frictional uncertainty. Additionally, object occlusions in a scenario of contact uncertainty, and where there is a relative motion between the object and the robot, becomes a critical problem. In this talk, I will present some of our recent work on non-prehensile manipulation through a model-free paradigm with reinforcement learning. In particular, I will discuss our findings on leveraging multimodal categorical exploration to unlock significant performance improvements, as well as learning visuotactile state estimators and uncertainty-aware control policies to enable non-prehensile manipulation under visual occlusions. Speaker: Cora Hummert Title: Depth estimation with light field Cameras: What can we learn from insect eyes? Abstract: Fast and accurate depth estimation remains a major challenge in computer vision, particularly at long distances and in dynamic scenes.Inspired by biological vision, we explore the similarities between insect compound eyes and light field cameras - both of which enable depth perception by capturing multiple viewpoints of a scene. Additionally, we investigate whether the light-induced motion of photoreceptors in the fly eye can be used to estimate depth or enhance depth perception. In this talk, I will outline recent ideas and present preliminary results from simulations of a pinhole light field camera. Feb 20 2025 13.00 - 14.00 IPAB Workshop - 20/02/2025 João Pousa De Moura & Cora Hummert G.03
