Estimator
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About
An estimator is a computational algorithm or mathematical construct that infers unknown quantities — such as system state, parameters, or uncertainty — from available sensor measurements and model information. In robotics and AI, estimators are foundational components used across a wide range of tasks: determining a robot's position and orientation (localization), fusing data from multiple sensors like IMUs, cameras, and LiDAR, detecting and compensating for system faults, and inferring human intent in assistive devices. Common examples include Kalman filters for state estimation, maximum a posteriori estimators for cooperative localization, and adaptive estimators for fault diagnosis. Estimators are also used in reinforcement learning, where advantage estimators shape policy gradient updates, and in visual servoing, where Jacobian estimators replace unavailable model knowledge. Their importance stems from the fact that robots rarely have direct access to the quantities they need to act on — sensors are noisy, environments are dynamic, and models are imperfect. Reliable estimators bridge the gap between raw observations and actionable knowledge, enabling robust autonomy across manipulation, locomotion, navigation, and human-robot interaction.
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On-line EM Algorithm for the Normalized Gaussian Network
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