NAR-*ICP: Neural Execution of Classical ICP-based Pointcloud Registration Algorithms

Abstract: This study explores the intersection of neural networks and classical robotics algorithms through the Neural Algorithmic Reasoning (NAR) framework, allowing to train neural networks to effectively reason like classical robotics algorithms by learning to execute them. Algorithms are integral to robotics and safety-critical applications due to their predictable and consistent performance through logical and mathematical principles. In contrast, while neural networks are highly adaptable, handling complex, high-dimensional data and generalising across tasks, they often lack interpretability and transparency in their internal computations. We propose a Graph Neural Network (GNN)-based learning framework, NAR-*ICP, which learns the intermediate algorithmic steps of classical ICP-based pointcloud registration algorithms, and extend the CLRS Algorithmic Reasoning Benchmark with classical robotics perception algorithms. We evaluate our approach across diverse datasets, from real-world to synthetic, demonstrating its flexibility in handling complex and noisy inputs, along with its potential to be used as part of a larger learning system. Our results indicate that our method achieves superior performance across all benchmarks and datasets, consistently surpassing even the algorithms it has been trained on, further demonstrating its ability to generalise beyond the capabilities of traditional algorithms.