Unraveling the Single Tangent Space Fallacy: An Analysis and Clarification for Applying Riemannian Geometry in Robot Learning

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Jaquier, Noémie, Rozo, Leonel, Asfour, Tamim
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2023
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author Jaquier, Noémie
Rozo, Leonel
Asfour, Tamim
author_facet Jaquier, Noémie
Rozo, Leonel
Asfour, Tamim
contents In the realm of robotics, numerous downstream robotics tasks leverage machine learning methods for processing, modeling, or synthesizing data. Often, this data comprises variables that inherently carry geometric constraints, such as the unit-norm condition of quaternions representing rigid-body orientations or the positive definiteness of stiffness and manipulability ellipsoids. Handling such geometric constraints effectively requires the incorporation of tools from differential geometry into the formulation of machine learning methods. In this context, Riemannian manifolds emerge as a powerful mathematical framework to handle such geometric constraints. Nevertheless, their recent adoption in robot learning has been largely characterized by a mathematically-flawed simplification, hereinafter referred to as the "single tangent space fallacy". This approach involves merely projecting the data of interest onto a single tangent (Euclidean) space, over which an off-the-shelf learning algorithm is applied. This paper provides a theoretical elucidation of various misconceptions surrounding this approach and offers experimental evidence of its shortcomings. Finally, it presents valuable insights to promote best practices when employing Riemannian geometry within robot learning applications.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2310_07902
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Unraveling the Single Tangent Space Fallacy: An Analysis and Clarification for Applying Riemannian Geometry in Robot Learning
Jaquier, Noémie
Rozo, Leonel
Asfour, Tamim
Robotics
Machine Learning
In the realm of robotics, numerous downstream robotics tasks leverage machine learning methods for processing, modeling, or synthesizing data. Often, this data comprises variables that inherently carry geometric constraints, such as the unit-norm condition of quaternions representing rigid-body orientations or the positive definiteness of stiffness and manipulability ellipsoids. Handling such geometric constraints effectively requires the incorporation of tools from differential geometry into the formulation of machine learning methods. In this context, Riemannian manifolds emerge as a powerful mathematical framework to handle such geometric constraints. Nevertheless, their recent adoption in robot learning has been largely characterized by a mathematically-flawed simplification, hereinafter referred to as the "single tangent space fallacy". This approach involves merely projecting the data of interest onto a single tangent (Euclidean) space, over which an off-the-shelf learning algorithm is applied. This paper provides a theoretical elucidation of various misconceptions surrounding this approach and offers experimental evidence of its shortcomings. Finally, it presents valuable insights to promote best practices when employing Riemannian geometry within robot learning applications.
title Unraveling the Single Tangent Space Fallacy: An Analysis and Clarification for Applying Riemannian Geometry in Robot Learning
topic Robotics
Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.07902