Natural Gradient Bayesian Filtering: Geometry-Aware Filter for Dynamical Systems

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Liu, Chang, Cao, Wenhan, Sun, Zeju, Zhang, Tianyi, Yuan, Jiayu, Zeng, Yi, Yuan, Ting, Lyu, Yao, Wu, Wei, Yau, Stephen Shing-Toung, Li, Shengbo Eben
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Publié: 2026
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author Liu, Chang
Cao, Wenhan
Sun, Zeju
Zhang, Tianyi
Yuan, Jiayu
Zeng, Yi
Yuan, Ting
Lyu, Yao
Wu, Wei
Yau, Stephen Shing-Toung
Li, Shengbo Eben
author_facet Liu, Chang
Cao, Wenhan
Sun, Zeju
Zhang, Tianyi
Yuan, Jiayu
Zeng, Yi
Yuan, Ting
Lyu, Yao
Wu, Wei
Yau, Stephen Shing-Toung
Li, Shengbo Eben
contents Bayesian filtering is a cornerstone of state estimation in complex systems such as aerospace systems, yet exact solutions are available only for linear Gaussian models. In practice,nonlinear systems are handled through tractable approximations,with Gaussian filters such as the extended and unscented Kalman filters being among the most widely used methods. This tutorial revisits Gaussian filtering from an information-geometric perspective, viewing the prediction and measurement update steps as inference procedures over state distributions. Within this framework, we introduce a geometry-aware Gaussian filtering approach that leverages natural gradient descent on the statistical manifold of Gaussian distributions. The resulting Natural Gradient Gaussian Approximation (NANO) filter iteratively refines the posterior mean and covariance while respecting the intrinsic geometry of the Gaussian family and preserving the positive definiteness of the covariance matrix. We further highlight fundamental connections to the classical Kalman filtering, showing that a single natural-gradient step exactly recovers the Kalman measurement update in the linear-Gaussian case. The practical implications of the proposed framework are illustrated through case studies in representative nonlinear estimation problems,including satellite attitude estimation, simultaneous localization and mapping, and state estimation for robotic systems including quadruped and humanoid robots.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_02306
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Natural Gradient Bayesian Filtering: Geometry-Aware Filter for Dynamical Systems
Liu, Chang
Cao, Wenhan
Sun, Zeju
Zhang, Tianyi
Yuan, Jiayu
Zeng, Yi
Yuan, Ting
Lyu, Yao
Wu, Wei
Yau, Stephen Shing-Toung
Li, Shengbo Eben
Robotics
Systems and Control
Bayesian filtering is a cornerstone of state estimation in complex systems such as aerospace systems, yet exact solutions are available only for linear Gaussian models. In practice,nonlinear systems are handled through tractable approximations,with Gaussian filters such as the extended and unscented Kalman filters being among the most widely used methods. This tutorial revisits Gaussian filtering from an information-geometric perspective, viewing the prediction and measurement update steps as inference procedures over state distributions. Within this framework, we introduce a geometry-aware Gaussian filtering approach that leverages natural gradient descent on the statistical manifold of Gaussian distributions. The resulting Natural Gradient Gaussian Approximation (NANO) filter iteratively refines the posterior mean and covariance while respecting the intrinsic geometry of the Gaussian family and preserving the positive definiteness of the covariance matrix. We further highlight fundamental connections to the classical Kalman filtering, showing that a single natural-gradient step exactly recovers the Kalman measurement update in the linear-Gaussian case. The practical implications of the proposed framework are illustrated through case studies in representative nonlinear estimation problems,including satellite attitude estimation, simultaneous localization and mapping, and state estimation for robotic systems including quadruped and humanoid robots.
title Natural Gradient Bayesian Filtering: Geometry-Aware Filter for Dynamical Systems
topic Robotics
Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.02306