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Related papers: A Pontryagin Perspective on Reinforcement Learning

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We draw on the latest advancements in the physics community to propose a novel method for discovering the governing non-linear dynamics of physical systems in reinforcement learning (RL). We establish that this method is capable of…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2022-09-01 Rushiv Arora , Bruno Castro da Silva , Eliot Moss

In the traditional view of reinforcement learning, the agent's goal is to find an optimal policy that maximizes its expected sum of rewards. Once the agent finds this policy, the learning ends. This view contrasts with \emph{continual…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-07-16 Esraa Elelimy , David Szepesvari , Martha White , Michael Bowling

In reinforcement learning (RL), an autonomous agent learns to perform complex tasks by maximizing an exogenous reward signal while interacting with its environment. In real-world applications, test conditions may differ substantially from…

Robotics · Computer Science 2019-10-30 Matteo Turchetta , Andreas Krause , Sebastian Trimpe

In this paper, a new reinforcement learning approach is proposed which is based on a powerful concept named Active Learning Method (ALM) in modeling. ALM expresses any multi-input-single-output system as a fuzzy combination of some…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2010-11-09 Hesam Sagha , Saeed Bagheri Shouraki , Hosein Khasteh , Ali Akbar Kiaei

Reinforcement Learning is divided in two main paradigms: model-free and model-based. Each of these two paradigms has strengths and limitations, and has been successfully applied to real world domains that are appropriate to its…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2017-10-19 Somil Bansal , Roberto Calandra , Kurtland Chua , Sergey Levine , Claire Tomlin

Model-based Reinforcement Learning estimates the true environment through a world model in order to approximate the optimal policy. This family of algorithms usually benefits from better sample efficiency than their model-free counterparts.…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2021-10-27 Valentin Charvet , Bjørn Sand Jensen , Roderick Murray-Smith

We propose a simple, practical and intuitive approach to improve the performance of a conventional controller in uncertain environments using deep reinforcement learning while maintaining safe operation. Our approach is motivated by the…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2021-10-07 Tom Staessens , Tom Lefebvre , Guillaume Crevecoeur

This paper presents an approach for data-driven policy refinement in reinforcement learning, specifically designed for safety-critical applications. Our methodology leverages the strengths of data-driven optimization and reinforcement…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2023-05-16 Ali Baheri

Several researchers have recently investigated the connection between reinforcement learning and classification. We are motivated by proposals of approximate policy iteration schemes without value functions which focus on policy…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2008-07-06 Christos Dimitrakakis , Michail G. Lagoudakis

Reinforcement learning (RL) problems are fundamental in online decision-making and have been instrumental in finding an optimal policy for Markov decision processes (MDPs). Function approximations are usually deployed to handle large or…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-05-20 Jiashuo Jiang , Yiming Zong , Yinyu Ye

In this paper, we study the learning of safe policies in the setting of reinforcement learning problems. This is, we aim to control a Markov Decision Process (MDP) of which we do not know the transition probabilities, but we have access to…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2022-01-14 Santiago Paternain , Miguel Calvo-Fullana , Luiz F. O. Chamon , Alejandro Ribeiro

A key capability of intelligent agents is operating under partial observability: reasoning and acting effectively despite missing or incomplete state observations. While recurrent (memory-based) policies learned via reinforcement learning…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-05-12 David Leeftink , Max Hinne , Marcel van Gerven

Reinforcement learning offers the promise of automating the acquisition of complex behavioral skills. However, compared to commonly used and well-understood supervised learning methods, reinforcement learning algorithms can be brittle,…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2020-01-01 Aviral Kumar , Xue Bin Peng , Sergey Levine

Standard reinforcement learning (RL) aims to find an optimal policy that identifies the best action for each state. However, in healthcare settings, many actions may be near-equivalent with respect to the reward (e.g., survival). We…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2020-07-27 Shengpu Tang , Aditya Modi , Michael W. Sjoding , Jenna Wiens

This paper presents a novel approach to reinforcement learning (RL) for control systems that provides probabilistic stability guarantees using finite data. Leveraging Lyapunov's method, we propose a probabilistic stability theorem that…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-03-03 Minghao Han , Lixian Zhang , Chenliang Liu , Zhipeng Zhou , Jun Wang , Wei Pan

An outstanding challenge for the widespread deployment of robotic systems like autonomous vehicles is ensuring safe interaction with humans without sacrificing performance. Existing safety methods often neglect the robot's ability to learn…

Robotics · Computer Science 2023-11-03 Haimin Hu , Zixu Zhang , Kensuke Nakamura , Andrea Bajcsy , Jaime F. Fisac

We introduce a reinforcement learning algorithm designed to identify the fixed points of a given quantum operation. The method iteratively constructs the unitary transformation that maps the computational basis onto the basis of fixed…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2025-11-25 María Laura Olivera-Atencio , Jesús Casado-Pascual , Denis Lacroix

Tasks where the set of possible actions depend discontinuously on the state pose a significant challenge for current reinforcement learning algorithms. For example, a locked door must be first unlocked, and then the handle turned before the…

Robotics · Computer Science 2023-03-09 Mrinal Verghese , Chris Atkeson

In search of a simple baseline for Deep Reinforcement Learning in locomotion tasks, we propose a model-free open-loop strategy. By leveraging prior knowledge and the elegance of simple oscillators to generate periodic joint motions, it…

Robotics · Computer Science 2024-03-05 Antonin Raffin , Olivier Sigaud , Jens Kober , Alin Albu-Schäffer , João Silvério , Freek Stulp

Implementing an autonomous vehicle that is able to output feasible, smooth and efficient trajectories is a long-standing challenge. Several approaches have been considered, roughly falling under two categories: rule-based and learning-based…

Robotics · Computer Science 2022-03-22 Branka Mirchevska , Moritz Werling , Joschka Boedecker