Proximal policy optimization with model-based methods

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Shuailong Li ◽  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Huiwen Zhang ◽  
Xin Zhang ◽  
Yuquan Leng
Keyword(s):  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Transition Model ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Original Algorithm ◽  
Policy Performance ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Model Free ◽  
Future State ◽  
Policy Optimization

Model-free reinforcement learning methods have successfully been applied to practical applications such as decision-making problems in Atari games. However, these methods have inherent shortcomings, such as a high variance and low sample efficiency. To improve the policy performance and sample efficiency of model-free reinforcement learning, we propose proximal policy optimization with model-based methods (PPOMM), a fusion method of both model-based and model-free reinforcement learning. PPOMM not only considers the information of past experience but also the prediction information of the future state. PPOMM adds the information of the next state to the objective function of the proximal policy optimization (PPO) algorithm through a model-based method. This method uses two components to optimize the policy: the error of PPO and the error of model-based reinforcement learning. We use the latter to optimize a latent transition model and predict the information of the next state. For most games, this method outperforms the state-of-the-art PPO algorithm when we evaluate across 49 Atari games in the Arcade Learning Environment (ALE). The experimental results show that PPOMM performs better or the same as the original algorithm in 33 games.

Design of Control Systems Using Active Uncertainty Reduction-Based Reinforcement Learning

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zequn Wang ◽  
Narendra Patwardhan
Keyword(s):  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Adaptive Sampling ◽  
Original System ◽  
Uncertainty Reduction ◽  
Expected Improvement ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Model Free ◽  
Reward Functions ◽  
Policy Optimization ◽  
Data Efficiency

Abstract Model-free reinforcement learning based methods such as Proximal Policy Optimization, or Q-learning typically require thousands of interactions with the environment to approximate the optimal controller which may not always be feasible in robotics due to safety and time consumption. Model-based methods such as PILCO or BlackDrops, while data-efficient, provide solutions with limited robustness and complexity. To address this tradeoff, we introduce active uncertainty reduction-based virtual environments, which are formed through limited trials conducted in the original environment. We provide an efficient method for uncertainty management, which is used as a metric for self-improvement by identification of the points with maximum expected improvement through adaptive sampling. Capturing the uncertainty also allows for better mimicking of the reward responses of the original system. Our approach enables the use of complex policy structures and reward functions through a unique combination of model-based and model-free methods, while still retaining the data efficiency. We demonstrate the validity of our method on several classic reinforcement learning problems in OpenAI gym. We prove that our approach offers a better modeling capacity for complex system dynamics as compared to established methods.

scholarly journals Policy Optimization with Model-Based Explorations

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 4675-4682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feiyang Pan ◽  
Qingpeng Cai ◽  
An-Xiang Zeng ◽  
Chun-Xiang Pan ◽  
Qing Da ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Optimization Method ◽  
Monte Carlo Sampling ◽  
New Technique ◽  
Learning Methods ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Model Free ◽  
Hand Model ◽  
Target Values ◽  
Policy Optimization

Model-free reinforcement learning methods such as the Proximal Policy Optimization algorithm (PPO) have successfully applied in complex decision-making problems such as Atari games. However, these methods suffer from high variances and high sample complexity. On the other hand, model-based reinforcement learning methods that learn the transition dynamics are more sample efficient, but they often suffer from the bias of the transition estimation. How to make use of both model-based and model-free learning is a central problem in reinforcement learning.In this paper, we present a new technique to address the tradeoff between exploration and exploitation, which regards the difference between model-free and model-based estimations as a measure of exploration value. We apply this new technique to the PPO algorithm and arrive at a new policy optimization method, named Policy Optimization with Modelbased Explorations (POME). POME uses two components to predict the actions’ target values: a model-free one estimated by Monte-Carlo sampling and a model-based one which learns a transition model and predicts the value of the next state. POME adds the error of these two target estimations as the additional exploration value for each state-action pair, i.e, encourages the algorithm to explore the states with larger target errors which are hard to estimate. We compare POME with PPO on Atari 2600 games, and it shows that POME outperforms PPO on 33 games out of 49 games.

scholarly journals Deep Model-Based Reinforcement Learning via Estimated Uncertainty and Conservative Policy Optimization

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (04) ◽  
pp. 6941-6948
Author(s):  
Qi Zhou ◽  
HouQiang Li ◽  
Jie Wang
Keyword(s):  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Performance Improvement ◽  
Optimization Method ◽  
Asymptotic Performance ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Model Free ◽  
Deep Model ◽  
Conservative Policy ◽  
Policy Optimization ◽  
Novel Model

Model-based reinforcement learning algorithms tend to achieve higher sample efficiency than model-free methods. However, due to the inevitable errors of learned models, model-based methods struggle to achieve the same asymptotic performance as model-free methods. In this paper, We propose a Policy Optimization method with Model-Based Uncertainty (POMBU)—a novel model-based approach—that can effectively improve the asymptotic performance using the uncertainty in Q-values. We derive an upper bound of the uncertainty, based on which we can approximate the uncertainty accurately and efficiently for model-based methods. We further propose an uncertainty-aware policy optimization algorithm that optimizes the policy conservatively to encourage performance improvement with high probability. This can significantly alleviate the overfitting of policy to inaccurate models. Experiments show POMBU can outperform existing state-of-the-art policy optimization algorithms in terms of sample efficiency and asymptotic performance. Moreover, the experiments demonstrate the excellent robustness of POMBU compared to previous model-based approaches.

scholarly journals Risk-Aware Model-Based Control

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen Yu ◽  
Andre Rosendo
Keyword(s):  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Value At Risk ◽  
Learning Algorithm ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Training Data ◽  
Conditional Value At Risk ◽  
High Dimensional ◽  
Model Based Control ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Model Free

Model-Based Reinforcement Learning (MBRL) algorithms have been shown to have an advantage on data-efficiency, but often overshadowed by state-of-the-art model-free methods in performance, especially when facing high-dimensional and complex problems. In this work, a novel MBRL method is proposed, called Risk-Aware Model-Based Control (RAMCO). It combines uncertainty-aware deep dynamics models and the risk assessment technique Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR). This mechanism is appropriate for real-world application since it takes epistemic risk into consideration. In addition, we use a model-free solver to produce warm-up training data, and this setting improves the performance in low-dimensional environments and covers the shortage of MBRL’s nature in the high-dimensional scenarios. In comparison with other state-of-the-art reinforcement learning algorithms, we show that it produces superior results on a walking robot model. We also evaluate the method with an Eidos environment, which is a novel experimental method with multi-dimensional randomly initialized deep neural networks to measure the performance of any reinforcement learning algorithm, and the advantages of RAMCO are highlighted.

Model-Based and Model-Free Social Cognition

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leor M Hackel ◽  
Jeffrey Jordan Berg ◽  
Björn Lindström ◽  
David Amodio
Keyword(s):  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Social Cognition ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Memory Systems ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Financial Advisors ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Model Free ◽  
Systems Model ◽  
Task Assessment

Do habits play a role in our social impressions? To investigate the contribution of habits to the formation of social attitudes, we examined the roles of model-free and model-based reinforcement learning in social interactions—computations linked in past work to habit and planning, respectively. Participants in this study learned about novel individuals in a sequential reinforcement learning paradigm, choosing financial advisors who led them to high- or low-paying stocks. Results indicated that participants relied on both model-based and model-free learning, such that each independently predicted choice during the learning task and self-reported liking in a post-task assessment. Specifically, participants liked advisors who could provide large future rewards as well as advisors who had provided them with large rewards in the past. Moreover, participants varied in their use of model-based and model-free learning strategies, and this individual difference influenced the way in which learning related to self-reported attitudes: among participants who relied more on model-free learning, model-free social learning related more to post-task attitudes. We discuss implications for attitudes, trait impressions, and social behavior, as well as the role of habits in a memory systems model of social cognition.

scholarly journals Combining Model-Based Design and Model-Free Policy Optimization to Learn Safe, Stabilizing Controllers

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 19-24
Author(s):  
Tyler Westenbroek ◽  
Ayush Agrawal ◽  
Fernando Castañeda ◽  
S Shankar Sastry ◽  
Koushil Sreenath
Keyword(s):  
Stabilizing Controllers ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Model Free ◽  
Policy Optimization

A Model-Based Factored Bayesian Reinforcement Learning Approach

2014 ◽  
Vol 513-517 ◽  
pp. 1092-1095
Author(s):  
Bo Wu ◽  
Yan Peng Feng ◽  
Hong Yan Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Iteration Algorithm ◽  
Value Iteration ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Online Planning ◽  
Bayesian Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Bayesian Inference Method ◽  
Unknown Structure

Bayesian reinforcement learning has turned out to be an effective solution to the optimal tradeoff between exploration and exploitation. However, in practical applications, the learning parameters with exponential growth are the main impediment for online planning and learning. To overcome this problem, we bring factored representations, model-based learning, and Bayesian reinforcement learning together in a new approach. Firstly, we exploit a factored representation to describe the states to reduce the size of learning parameters, and adopt Bayesian inference method to learn the unknown structure and parameters simultaneously. Then, we use an online point-based value iteration algorithm to plan and learn. The experimental results show that the proposed approach is an effective way for improving the learning efficiency in large-scale state spaces.

scholarly journals Hybrid-Model-Based Deep Reinforcement Learning for Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning Control

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huan Zhao ◽  
Junhua Zhao ◽  
Ting Shu ◽  
Zibin Pan
Keyword(s):  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Hybrid Model ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Energy Cost ◽  
Air Conditioning ◽  
Electricity Price ◽  
Learning Efficiency ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Model Free

Buildings account for a large proportion of the total energy consumption in many countries and almost half of the energy consumption is caused by the Heating, Ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. The model predictive control of HVAC is a complex task due to the dynamic property of the system and environment, such as temperature and electricity price. Deep reinforcement learning (DRL) is a model-free method that utilizes the “trial and error” mechanism to learn the optimal policy. However, the learning efficiency and learning cost are the main obstacles of the DRL method to practice. To overcome this problem, the hybrid-model-based DRL method is proposed for the HVAC control problem. Firstly, a specific MDPs is defined by considering the energy cost, temperature violation, and action violation. Then the hybrid-model-based DRL method is proposed, which utilizes both the knowledge-driven model and the data-driven model during the whole learning process. Finally, the protection mechanism and adjusting reward methods are used to further reduce the learning cost. The proposed method is tested in a simulation environment using the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) electricity price data and New South Wales temperature data. Simulation results show that 1) the DRL method can reduce the energy cost while maintaining the temperature satisfactory compared to the short term MPC method; 2) the proposed method improves the learning efficiency and reduces the learning cost during the learning process compared to the model-free method.

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