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Wayformer: Motion Forecasting via Simple & Efficient Attention Networks (2207.05844v1)

Published 12 Jul 2022 in cs.CV

Abstract: Motion forecasting for autonomous driving is a challenging task because complex driving scenarios result in a heterogeneous mix of static and dynamic inputs. It is an open problem how best to represent and fuse information about road geometry, lane connectivity, time-varying traffic light state, and history of a dynamic set of agents and their interactions into an effective encoding. To model this diverse set of input features, many approaches proposed to design an equally complex system with a diverse set of modality specific modules. This results in systems that are difficult to scale, extend, or tune in rigorous ways to trade off quality and efficiency. In this paper, we present Wayformer, a family of attention based architectures for motion forecasting that are simple and homogeneous. Wayformer offers a compact model description consisting of an attention based scene encoder and a decoder. In the scene encoder we study the choice of early, late and hierarchical fusion of the input modalities. For each fusion type we explore strategies to tradeoff efficiency and quality via factorized attention or latent query attention. We show that early fusion, despite its simplicity of construction, is not only modality agnostic but also achieves state-of-the-art results on both Waymo Open MotionDataset (WOMD) and Argoverse leaderboards, demonstrating the effectiveness of our design philosophy

Citations (196)

Summary

  • The paper demonstrates that a simple, unified attention framework effectively fuses multimodal data for enhanced motion forecasting.
  • It introduces efficient techniques like factorized and latent query attention to balance computational cost and accuracy.
  • Empirical evaluations achieve state-of-the-art results on WOMD and Argoverse benchmarks, supporting real-time deployment in autonomous systems.

Overview of "Wayformer: Motion Forecasting via Simple Content Efficient Attention Networks"

The paper "Wayformer: Motion Forecasting via Simple Content Efficient Attention Networks" presents an innovative approach to motion forecasting in autonomous driving. This domain presents challenges due to the complex, heterogeneous inputs pertaining to dynamic agents and the static driving environment. The researchers propose Wayformer, a family of attention-based architectures designed to manage these challenges through simplicity and homogeneity, specifically targeting the complexity and inefficiencies in current methods.

Core Contributions

Wayformer distinguishes itself by adopting a streamlined architecture consisting of an attention-based scene encoder and decoder, in contrast to the traditionally complex systems with multiple modality-specific modules. The architecture encapsulates the road geometry, dynamic agent interactions, and traffic regulations into a single attention framework, achieving state-of-the-art performance on both the Waymo Open Motion Dataset (WOMD) and Argoverse leaderboards.

Key contributions of the paper include:

  • Attention-Based Framework: The model simplifies the inputs through an early, late, and hierarchical fusion of multimodal features into a singular attention-based scene encoder, thus eschewing the need for complex hand-engineered architectures.
  • Efficiency Techniques: The research explores enhancements such as factorized attention and latent query attention to balance complexity and computational cost, achieving real-time applicability.
  • Empirical Validation: Wayformer models demonstrate state-of-the-art accuracy and efficiency, surpassing existing methods such as MultiPath and MultiPath++ on industry benchmarks.

Numerical Results and Claims

The empirical evaluations demonstrate that Wayformer achieves state-of-the-art results, specifically on the metrics of minFDE, minADE, and mAP on the WOMD and Argoverse datasets. Notably, early fusion in the scene encoder aligns with simplicity and performance effectiveness, outperforming standard multi-modal architectures. The research further underscores the model's efficiency, capable of achieving low latency and high accuracy under different configurations.

Practical and Theoretical Implications

From a practical perspective, Wayformer affirms the potential for attention-based models to simplify and enhance the scalability of motion forecasting frameworks. The findings advocate for industry adoption, suggesting that efficient attention mechanisms can replace more intricate architectures without compromising accuracy.

Theoretically, Wayformer posits a shift in how multimodal information can be encoded and exploited in autonomous systems. It aligns with ongoing trends in deep learning, where unifying architectures offer more streamlined solutions across diverse tasks. The research further opens avenues in the application of Transformers to asynchronous data processing challenges in robotics.

Future Directions

The results from Wayformer highlight several areas for further exploration:

  • Extended Evaluation: Testing Wayformer under diverse environmental and weather conditions would provide additional insights into the robustness and adaptability of the model.
  • Integration with Perception Modules: By integrating perception and forecasting tasks end-to-end, future studies could unlock more granular insights into agent behavior in highly interactive scenarios.
  • Scaling and Real-world Deployment: Evaluating the framework in larger-scale simulations and real-world settings could further validate its practical utility and influence future system architecture designs in autonomous navigation.

In conclusion, Wayformer represents a significant step toward efficient, scalable motion forecasting in autonomous driving, aligning with broader trends toward simplifying AI model architectures while maintaining or enhancing performance.

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