Related papers: Equivalence of Optimality Criteria for Markov Deci…
Models of many real-life applications, such as queuing models of communication networks or computing systems, have a countably infinite state-space. Algorithmic and learning procedures that have been developed to produce optimal policies…
Many control problems in environments that can be modeled as Markov decision processes (MDPs) concern infinite-time horizon specifications. The classical aim in this context is to compute a control policy that maximizes the probability of…
Markov decision processes (MDPs) are the defacto frame-work for sequential decision making in the presence ofstochastic uncertainty. A classical optimization criterion forMDPs is to maximize the expected discounted-sum pay-off, which…
We consider synthesis of control policies that maximize the probability of satisfying given temporal logic specifications in unknown, stochastic environments. We model the interaction between the system and its environment as a Markov…
In this paper, we show how a simulated Markov decision process (MDP) built by the so-called \emph{baseline} policies, can be used to compute a different policy, namely the \emph{simulated optimal} policy, for which the performance of this…
This paper studies the approximation of optimal control policies by quantized (discretized) policies for a very general class of Markov decision processes (MDPs). The problem is motivated by applications in networked control systems,…
Model-based policy optimization often struggles with inaccurate system dynamics models, leading to suboptimal closed-loop performance. This challenge is especially evident in Model Predictive Control (MPC) policies, which rely on the model…
We study the computational complexity of central analysis problems for One-Counter Markov Decision Processes (OC-MDPs), a class of finitely-presented, countable-state MDPs. OC-MDPs are equivalent to a controlled extension of (discrete-time)…
Constrained decision-making is essential for designing safe policies in real-world control systems, yet simulated environments often fail to capture real-world adversities. We consider the problem of learning a policy that will maximize the…
Many robotics tasks, such as path planning or trajectory optimization, are formulated as optimal control problems (OCPs). The key to obtaining high performance lies in the design of the OCP's objective function. In practice, the objective…
This paper studies convergence properties of optimal values and actions for discounted and average-cost Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) with weakly continuous transition probabilities and applies these properties to the stochastic…
Partially observable Markov Decision Processes (POMDPs) are a standard model for agents making decisions in uncertain environments. Most work on POMDPs focuses on synthesizing strategies based on the available capabilities. However, system…
Robust optimal or min-max model predictive control (MPC) approaches aim to guarantee constraint satisfaction over a known, bounded uncertainty set while minimizing a worst-case performance bound. Traditionally, these methods compute a…
We consider nonlinear model predictive control (MPC) with multiple competing cost functions. In each step of the scheme, a multiobjective optimal control problem with a nonlinear system and terminal conditions is solved. We propose an…
We consider nonlinear optimal control problems (OCPs) for which all problem data are polynomial. In the first part of the paper, we review how occupation measures can be used to approximate pointwise the optimal value function of a given…
We introduce and study constrained Markov Decision Processes (cMDPs) with anytime constraints. An anytime constraint requires the agent to never violate its budget at any point in time, almost surely. Although Markovian policies are no…
In this technical note we analyse the performance improvement and optimality properties of the Learning Model Predictive Control (LMPC) strategy for linear deterministic systems. The LMPC framework is a policy iteration scheme where…
This paper is about a real-time model predictive control (MPC) algorithm for a particular class of model based controllers, whose objective consists of a nominal tracking objective and an additional learning objective. Here, the…
Sampling-based Model Predictive Control (MPC) is a flexible control framework that can reason about non-smooth dynamics and cost functions. Recently, significant work has focused on the use of machine learning to improve the performance of…
We study a Q learning algorithm for continuous time stochastic control problems. The proposed algorithm uses the sampled state process by discretizing the state and control action spaces under piece-wise constant control processes. We show…