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A Third-Order Gaussian Process Trajectory Representation Framework With Closed-Form Kinematics for Continuous-Time Motion Estimation

delete2026-06-09
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PRE
AI
T
Thien‐Minh Nguyen
Z
Ziyu Cao
K
Kailai Li
W
William Henry Fox Talbot
T
Tongxing Jin
S
Shenghai Yuan
T
Timothy D. Barfoot
L
Lihua Xie
DOI:10.1109/TRO.2026.3701957delete
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Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
In this article, we propose a third-order, i.e., white-noise-on-jerk, Gaussian process trajectory representation (TR) framework for continuous-time motion estimation (ME) tasks. Our framework features a unified TR that encapsulates the kinematic models of both <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathrm{SO(3)}\times \mathbb {R}^{3}$</tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathrm{SE(3)}$</tex-math></inline-formula> pose representations. This encapsulation strategy allows users to use the same implementation of measurement-based factors for either choice of pose representation, which facilitates experimentation and comparison to make a better choice for the ME task. In addition, unique to our framework, we derive the kinematic models with the <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">closed-form temporal derivatives of the local variables of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathrm{SO(3)}$</tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathrm{SE(3)}$</tex-math></inline-formula></i>, which so far has only been approximated based on Taylor expansion in the literature. Our experiments show that these kinematic models can improve the estimation accuracy in high-speed scenarios. All analytical Jacobians of the interpolated states with respect to the support states of the TR, as well as the motion prior factors, are also provided for accelerated Gauss–Newton optimization. Our experiments demonstrate the efficacy and efficiency of the framework in various ME tasks, such as localization, calibration, and odometry, facilitating fast prototyping for ME researchers. We release the source code for the benefit of the community.
Keywords:
Gaussian processes
state estimation
sensor fusion
manifolds
optimization methods

Journal

IEEE Transactions on Robotics cover
IEEE Transactions on Robotics
IF:
10.5
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3.3K
Citations:
2.8W

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eth zürich
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Linkoping University
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Nanyang Technological University
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university of groningen
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university of toronto
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Citations: 165
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