Quantum Machine Learning and Grover's Algorithm for Quantum Optimization of Robotic Manipulators
Optimizing high-degree-of-freedom robotic manipulators requires searching complex, high-dimensional configuration spaces, a task that is computationally challenging for classical methods. This paper introduces a quantum-native framework that integrates Quantum Machine Learning (QML) with Grover's algorithm to solve kinematic optimization problems efficiently. A parameterized quantum circuit is trained to approximate the forward kinematics model, which then constructs an oracle to identify optimal configurations. Grover's algorithm leverages this oracle to provide a quadratic reduction in search complexity. Demonstrated on simulated 1-DoF, 2-DoF, and dual-arm manipulator tasks, the method achieves significant speedups-up to 93x over classical optimizers like Nelder-Mead-as problem dimensionality increases. This work establishes a foundational, quantum-native framework for robot kinematic optimization, effectively bridging quantum computing and robotics problems.
Authors
- Hassen Nigatu
- Guodong Lu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2762-9912)
- Jituo Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1343-5305)
- Jin Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3106-021X)
- Gaokun Shi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-6884-3185)
- Howard Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6359-0349)
Institutions
- University of New Brunswick (CA)
- Robotics Research (United States) (US)
- Ningbo Intelligent Manufacturing Industry Research Institute (CN)
- Zhejiang University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
- Published
- 2025-10-31
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1109/lra.2025.3627071
- Primary Topic
- Quantum Computing Algorithms and Architecture
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00