Learning-based approaches for robotic grasping using visual sensors typically require collecting a large size dataset, either manually labeled or by many trial and errors of a robotic manipulator in the real or simulated world. We propose a simpler learning-from-demonstration approach that is able to detect the object to grasp from merely a single demonstration using a convolutional neural network we call GraspNet. In order to increase robustness and decrease the training time even further, we leverage data from previous demonstrations to quickly fine-tune a GrapNet for each new demonstration. We present some preliminary results on a grasping experiment with the Franka Panda cobot for which we can train a GraspNet with only hundreds of train iterations.
A second approach uses human demonstrations @cite_9 . In order to generalize well to situations that are different than the human demonstrations, this is often combined with reinforcement learning techniques @cite_7 , or guided policy search @cite_17 . However, for this approach to work, quite a number of demonstrations is usually required in order to generalize well.
@cite_9 @cite_7 @cite_17
2951727622 2953326374 2133552775 2154633587
In principle, reinforcement learning and policy search methods can enable robots to learn highly complex and general skills that may allow them to function amid the complexity and diversity of the real world. However, training a policy that generalizes well across a wide range of real-world conditions requires far greater quantity and diversity of experience than is practical to collect with a single robot. Fortunately, it is possible for multiple robots to share their experience with one another, and thereby, learn a policy collectively. In this work, we explore distributed and asynchronous policy learning as a means to achieve generalization and improved training times on challenging, real-world manipulation tasks. We propose a distributed and asynchronous version of Guided Policy Search and use it to demonstrate collective policy learning on a vision-based door opening task using four robots. We show that it achieves better generalization, utilization, and training times than the single robot alternative. As a step towards developing zero-shot task generalization capabilities in reinforcement learning (RL), we introduce a new RL problem where the agent should learn to execute sequences of instructions after learning useful skills that solve subtasks. In this problem, we consider two types of generalizations: to previously unseen instructions and to longer sequences of instructions. For generalization over unseen instructions, we propose a new objective which encourages learning correspondences between similar subtasks by making analogies. For generalization over sequential instructions, we present a hierarchical architecture where a meta controller learns to use the acquired skills for executing the instructions. To deal with delayed reward, we propose a new neural architecture in the meta controller that learns when to update the subtask, which makes learning more efficient. Experimental results on a stochastic 3D domain show that the proposed ideas are crucial for generalization to longer instructions as well as unseen instructions. We propose a Learning from Demonstration (LfD) algorithm which leverages expert data, even if they are very few or inaccurate. We achieve this by using both expert data, as well as reinforcement signals gathered through trial-and-error interactions with the environment. The key idea of our approach, Approximate Policy Iteration with Demonstration (APID), is that expert's suggestions are used to define linear constraints which guide the optimization performed by Approximate Policy Iteration. We prove an upper bound on the Bellman error of the estimate computed by APID at each iteration. Moreover, we show empirically that APID outperforms pure Approximate Policy Iteration, a state-of-the-art LfD algorithm, and supervised learning in a variety of scenarios, including when very few and or suboptimal demonstrations are available. Our experiments include simulations as well as a real robot path-finding task. Learning by demonstration can be a powerful and natural tool for developing robot control policies. That is, instead of tedious hand-coding, a robot may learn a control policy by interacting with a teacher. In this work we present an algorithm for learning by demonstration in which the teacher operates in two phases. The teacher first demonstrates the task to the learner. The teacher next critiques learner performance of the task. This critique is used by the learner to update its control policy. In our implementation we utilize a 1-Nearest Neighbor technique which incorporates both training dataset and teacher critique. Since the teacher critiques performance only, they do not need to guess at an effective critique for the underlying algorithm. We argue that this method is particularly well-suited to human teachers, who are generally better at assigning credit to performances than to algorithms. We have applied this algorithm to the simulated task of a robot intercepting a ball. Our results demonstrate improved performance with teacher critiquing, where performance is measured by both execution success and efficiency.