---
_id: '7175'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Deep reinforcement learning (RL) policies for robotic control are typically
    trained for a single hardware configuration. When a joint locks, the learned mapping
    no longer matches the available actuation. This paper investigates whether combining
    self-attention with explicit kinematic observations can improve a policy’s adaptability
    to varying active-joint configurations. We train a single RL agent to control
    a Franka Emika Panda manipulator across different sets of active joints, from
    a restricted 4-degree-of-freedom (DOF) mode to the fully redundant 7-DOF configuration.
    Instead of fixed-length state vectors, the method processes the active joints
    as a variable-length sequence, enriching each joint’s representation with its
    relative spatial offset and geometric Jacobian influence. The proposed kinematics-informed
    attention architecture reaches a success rate of 82.1% across trained configurations
    and 66.6% on unseen configurations, outperforming multilayer perceptron and generic
    attention baselines while remaining nearly collision-free. Deployed on a physical
    Panda, the simulation-trained agent reaches 79.0% success on the unseen configurations,
    closely matching the simulation on the same target schedule (77.0%).
author:
- first_name: Patrick Thomas
  full_name: Mayer, Patrick Thomas
  id: '244831'
  last_name: Mayer
  orcid: 0009-0009-6800-1273
  orcid_put_code_url: https://api.orcid.org/v2.0/0009-0009-6800-1273/work/227375532
- first_name: Jan
  full_name: Rexilius, Jan
  id: '245736'
  last_name: Rexilius
  orcid: 0000-0002-4579-214X
  orcid_put_code_url: https://api.orcid.org/v2.0/0000-0002-4579-214X/work/227375533
citation:
  alphadin: '<span style="font-variant:small-caps;">Mayer, Patrick Thomas</span> ;
    <span style="font-variant:small-caps;">Rexilius, Jan</span>: Adapting to Variable
    Active-Joint Configurations via Kinematics-Informed Attention for Robot Arms.
    In: <i>9th Iberian Robotics Conference (ROBOT) </i>'
  ama: 'Mayer PT, Rexilius J. Adapting to Variable Active-Joint Configurations via
    Kinematics-Informed Attention for Robot Arms. In: <i>9th Iberian Robotics Conference
    (ROBOT) </i>.'
  apa: Mayer, P. T., &#38; Rexilius, J. (n.d.). Adapting to Variable Active-Joint
    Configurations via Kinematics-Informed Attention for Robot Arms. In <i>9th Iberian
    Robotics Conference (ROBOT) </i>. Barcelona.
  bibtex: '@inproceedings{Mayer_Rexilius, title={Adapting to Variable Active-Joint
    Configurations via Kinematics-Informed Attention for Robot Arms}, booktitle={9th
    Iberian Robotics Conference (ROBOT) }, author={Mayer, Patrick Thomas and Rexilius,
    Jan} }'
  chicago: Mayer, Patrick Thomas, and Jan Rexilius. “Adapting to Variable Active-Joint
    Configurations via Kinematics-Informed Attention for Robot Arms.” In <i>9th Iberian
    Robotics Conference (ROBOT) </i>, n.d.
  ieee: P. T. Mayer and J. Rexilius, “Adapting to Variable Active-Joint Configurations
    via Kinematics-Informed Attention for Robot Arms,” in <i>9th Iberian Robotics
    Conference (ROBOT) </i>, Barcelona.
  mla: Mayer, Patrick Thomas, and Jan Rexilius. “Adapting to Variable Active-Joint
    Configurations via Kinematics-Informed Attention for Robot Arms.” <i>9th Iberian
    Robotics Conference (ROBOT) </i>.
  short: 'P.T. Mayer, J. Rexilius, in: 9th Iberian Robotics Conference (ROBOT) , n.d.'
conference:
  end_date: 2026-11-20
  location: Barcelona
  name: '9th Iberian Robotics Conference (ROBOT) '
  start_date: 2026-11-18
date_created: 2026-09-21T16:34:09Z
date_updated: 2026-10-21T09:44:11Z
department:
- _id: '102'
keyword:
- Reinforcement Learning
- Robotic Manipulation
- Kinematic Adaptation
- Sim-to-Real Transfer
language:
- iso: eng
project:
- _id: A827C0AA-C7DA-11E9-B0AE-1F4CB252D58D
  name: Institute for Building Intelligence
publication: '9th Iberian Robotics Conference (ROBOT) '
publication_status: accepted
quality_controlled: '1'
status: public
title: Adapting to Variable Active-Joint Configurations via Kinematics-Informed Attention
  for Robot Arms
type: conference
user_id: '244831'
year: '2026'
...