We present a differentiable formulation of rigid-body contact dynamics for objects and robots represented as compositions of convex primitives. Existing optimization-based approaches simulating contact between convex primitives rely on a bilevel formulation that separates collision detection and contact simulation. These approaches are unreliable in realistic contact simulation scenarios because isolating the collision detection problem introduces contact location non-uniqueness. Our approach combines contact simulation and collision detection into a unified single-level optimization problem. This disambiguates the collision detection problem in a physics-informed manner. Compared to previous differentiable simulation approaches, our formulation features improved simulation robustness and a reduction in computational complexity by more than an order of magnitude. We illustrate the contact and collision differentiability on a robotic manipulation task requiring optimization-through-contact. We provide a numerically efficient implementation of our formulation in the Julia language called Silico.jl.

我们为腿部机器人提供了一个开源视觉惯性训练率（VILO）状态估计解决方案Cerberus，该机器人使用一组标准传感器（包括立体声摄像机，IMU，联合编码器，，imu，联合编码器）实时实时估算各个地形的位置和接触传感器。除了估计机器人状态外，我们还执行在线运动学参数校准并接触离群值拒绝以大大减少位置漂移。在各种室内和室外环境中进行的硬件实验验证了Cerberus中的运动学参数可以将估计的漂移降低到长距离高速运动中的1％以下。我们的漂移结果比文献中报道的相同的一组传感器组比任何其他状态估计方法都要好。此外，即使机器人经历了巨大的影响和摄像头遮挡，我们的状态估计器也表现良好。状态估计器的实现以及用于计算我们结果的数据集，可在https://github.com/shuoyangrobotics/cerberus上获得。

物体之间的碰撞检测对于机器人系统的模拟，控制和学习至关重要。但是，现有的碰撞检测例程本质上是非差异的，从而限制了它们在基于优化的算法中的实用性。在这项工作中，我们提出了一个完全可区分的碰撞检测框架，该框架的原因是一组可复合和高度表达的凸原始形状之间的距离。这是通过将碰撞检测问题制定为凸优化问题来实现的，该问题旨在在有相交之前找到要应用于每个对象的最小均匀缩放率。优化问题是完全可区分的，并且能够返回每个对象上的碰撞检测状态以及接触点。

碰撞检测在机器人系统的模拟，控制和学习中起重要作用。但是，对于对象的配置，没有现有的方法是可区分的，极大地限制了可以在碰撞检测顶部构建的算法。在这项工作中，我们通过将这些问题作为可区分的凸二次程序程序提出，提出了胶囊和填充多边形之间的一组可区分的碰撞检测算法。所得算法能够返回一个接近值，以指示是否发生了碰撞以及对象之间的最接近点，所有对象都是可区分的。结果，它们可以在其他基于梯度的优化方法中可靠地使用，包括轨迹优化，状态估计和强化学习方法。

我们提出了一个用于机器人应用专业的非凸轨迹优化问题的新求解器。Calipso或Conic增强Lagrangian内点求解器，结合了几种约束数值优化的策略，以本机处理二阶锥体和互补性约束。它可靠地解决了具有挑战性的运动规划问题，其中包括影响和库仑摩擦的接触式图形，受锥形约束的推力限制以及受国家触发的约束，而通用非线性编程溶液（如Snopt和iPopt）无法融合。此外，Calipso支持有关问题数据的有效分化，从而实现了双层优化应用程序，例如自动调整反馈策略。求解器的可靠收敛性在操纵，运动和航空航天域的一系列问题上得到了证明。可以使用该求解器的开源实现。

我们提出了Dojo，这是一种用于机器人技术的可区分物理引擎，优先考虑稳定的模拟，准确的接触物理学以及相对于状态，动作和系统参数的可不同性。Dojo在低样本速率下实现稳定的模拟，并通过使用变异积分器来节省能量和动量。非线性互补性问题，具有用于摩擦的二阶锥体，模型硬接触，并使用自定义的Primal Dual内部点法可靠地解决。使用隐式功能定理利用内点方法的特殊属性，以有效计算通过接触事件提供有用信息的光滑梯度。我们展示了Dojo独特的模拟紧密接触能力，同时提供了许多示例，包括轨迹优化，强化学习和系统识别。

深度学习中的许多任务涉及优化\ emph {输入}到网络以最小化或最大化一些目标;示例包括在生成模型中的潜在空间上的优化，以匹配目标图像，或者对其进行对接扰动的前进扰动以恶化分类器性能。然而，执行这种优化是传统上的昂贵，因为它涉及完全向前和向后通过网络，每个梯度步骤。在单独的工作中，最近的研究线程已经开发了深度均衡（DEQ）模型，一类放弃传统网络深度的模型，而是通过找到单个非线性层的固定点来计算网络的输出。在本文中，我们表明这两个设置之间存在自然协同作用。虽然，对于这些优化问题的天真使用DEQs是昂贵的（由于计算每个渐变步骤所需的时间），我们可以利用基于梯度的优化可以\ emph {本身}作为一个固定点来利用这一事实迭代基本上提高整体速度。也就是说，我们\ EMPH {同时解决了DEQ固定点\ EMPH {和}在网络输入上优化，所有内容都在单个“增强”的DEQ模型中，共同编码原始网络和优化过程。实际上，程序足够快，使我们允许我们有效地\以传统地依赖于“内在”优化循环的任务的{Train} DEQ模型。我们在各种任务中展示了这种策略，例如培训生成模型，同时优化潜在代码，培训模型，以实现逆问题，如去噪，普及训练和基于梯度的元学习。

我们为双级轨迹优化提供了一个框架，其中系统的动态被编码为对受约束优化问题的解决方案，并且将该较低级别问题的平滑梯度传递给上限轨迹优化器。基于优化的动态表示可实现约束处理，附加变量和非平滑行为，以便远离上层优化器，并允许经典的无约束优化器合成用于更复杂的系统的轨迹。我们提供了一种路径，以便有效地评估受限的动态，并利用隐式功能定理来计算此表示的平滑梯度。我们通过从机器人，航空航天和操纵域建模系统展示了框架，包括：杂志，带有联合限制，卡车杆受到库仑摩擦，Raibert Hopper，火箭落地的推力限制，以及基于优化的动态的平面推送任务然后使用迭代LQR优化轨迹。

Course load analytics (CLA) inferred from LMS and enrollment features can offer a more accurate representation of course workload to students than credit hours and potentially aid in their course selection decisions. In this study, we produce and evaluate the first machine-learned predictions of student course load ratings and generalize our model to the full 10,000 course catalog of a large public university. We then retrospectively analyze longitudinal differences in the semester load of student course selections throughout their degree. CLA by semester shows that a student's first semester at the university is among their highest load semesters, as opposed to a credit hour-based analysis, which would indicate it is among their lowest. Investigating what role predicted course load may play in program retention, we find that students who maintain a semester load that is low as measured by credit hours but high as measured by CLA are more likely to leave their program of study. This discrepancy in course load is particularly pertinent in STEM and associated with high prerequisite courses. Our findings have implications for academic advising, institutional handling of the freshman experience, and student-facing analytics to help students better plan, anticipate, and prepare for their selected courses.

As Artificial and Robotic Systems are increasingly deployed and relied upon for real-world applications, it is important that they exhibit the ability to continually learn and adapt in dynamically-changing environments, becoming Lifelong Learning Machines. Continual/lifelong learning (LL) involves minimizing catastrophic forgetting of old tasks while maximizing a model's capability to learn new tasks. This paper addresses the challenging lifelong reinforcement learning (L2RL) setting. Pushing the state-of-the-art forward in L2RL and making L2RL useful for practical applications requires more than developing individual L2RL algorithms; it requires making progress at the systems-level, especially research into the non-trivial problem of how to integrate multiple L2RL algorithms into a common framework. In this paper, we introduce the Lifelong Reinforcement Learning Components Framework (L2RLCF), which standardizes L2RL systems and assimilates different continual learning components (each addressing different aspects of the lifelong learning problem) into a unified system. As an instantiation of L2RLCF, we develop a standard API allowing easy integration of novel lifelong learning components. We describe a case study that demonstrates how multiple independently-developed LL components can be integrated into a single realized system. We also introduce an evaluation environment in order to measure the effect of combining various system components. Our evaluation environment employs different LL scenarios (sequences of tasks) consisting of Starcraft-2 minigames and allows for the fair, comprehensive, and quantitative comparison of different combinations of components within a challenging common evaluation environment.