Rethinking Layer Redundancy in Large Language Models: Calibration Objectives and Search for Depth Pruning

Depth pruning improves the inference efficiency of large language models by removing Transformer blocks. Prior work has focused on importance criteria and search algorithms, often treating layer redundancy as an inherent structural property of pretrained networks. In contrast, we adopt a \emph{functional perspective}, where redundancy is jointly influenced by the model and the evaluation objective, suggesting that a universal ranking may not be sufficient. Through an empirical study across three LLM families, two calibration objectives, and seven search algorithms, we observe that different objectives yield qualitatively different redundant layers, and that perplexity and downstream accuracy rankings do not consistently align. Under a fixed objective, however, search algorithms tend to produce similar solutions. Overall, our results suggest that the calibration objective may play a more influential role than the choice of search algorithm, indicating that further attention to objective design could be beneficial.

Learning-augmented robotic automation for real-world manufacturing

Industrial robots are widely used in manufacturing, yet most manipulation still depends on fixed waypoint scripts that are brittle to environmental changes. Learning-based control offers a more adaptive alternative, but it remains unclear whether such methods, still mostly confined to laboratory demonstrations, can sustain hours of reliable operation, deliver consistent quality, and behave safely around people on a live production line. Here we present Learning-Augmented Robotic Automation, a hybrid system that integrates learned task controllers and a neural 3D safety monitor into conventional industrial workflows. We deployed the system on an electric-motor production line to automate deformable cable insertion and soldering under real manufacturing constraints, a step previously performed manually by human workers. With less than 20 min of real-world data per task, the system operated continuously for 5 h 10 min, producing 108 motors without physical fencing and achieving a 99.4% pass rate on product-level quality-control tests. It maintained near-human takt time while reducing variability in solder-joint quality and cycle time. These results establish a practical pathway for extending industrial automation with learning-based methods.