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Current value-based multi-agent reinforcement learning methods optimize individual Q values to guide individuals' behaviours via centralized training with decentralized execution (CTDE). However, such expected, i.e., risk-neutral, Q value…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2021-03-23 Wei Qiu , Xinrun Wang , Runsheng Yu , Xu He , Rundong Wang , Bo An , Svetlana Obraztsova , Zinovi Rabinovich

Despite recent advances in reinforcement learning (RL), its application in safety critical domains like autonomous vehicles is still challenging. Although punishing RL agents for risky situations can help to learn safe policies, it may also…

Robotics · Computer Science 2021-07-16 Danial Kamran , Tizian Engelgeh , Marvin Busch , Johannes Fischer , Christoph Stiller

We address the problem of coordination and control of Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) in the presence of imperfect observations in mixed traffic environment. A commonly used approach is learning-based decision-making, such as…

Robotics · Computer Science 2024-09-25 Zhili Zhang , H M Sabbir Ahmad , Ehsan Sabouni , Yanchao Sun , Furong Huang , Wenchao Li , Fei Miao

Autonomous vehicles hold great promise for reducing traffic fatalities and improving transportation efficiency, yet their widespread adoption hinges on embedding credible and transparent ethical reasoning into routine and emergency…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-11-10 Dianzhao Li , Ostap Okhrin

The primary goal of reinforcement learning is to develop decision-making policies that prioritize optimal performance without considering risk or safety. In contrast, safe reinforcement learning aims to mitigate or avoid unsafe states. This…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2024-09-13 Zahra Shahrooei , Ali Baheri

In safety-critical decision-making, the environment may evolve over time, and the learner adjusts its risk level accordingly. This work investigates risk-averse online optimization in dynamic environments with varying risk levels, employing…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2025-12-30 Siyi Wang , Zifan Wang , Karl H. Johansson

We consider an online stochastic game with risk-averse agents whose goal is to learn optimal decisions that minimize the risk of incurring significantly high costs. Specifically, we use the Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) as a risk measure…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2022-06-17 Zifan Wang , Yi Shen , Michael M. Zavlanos

As safety is of paramount importance in robotics, reinforcement learning that reflects safety, called safe RL, has been studied extensively. In safe RL, we aim to find a policy which maximizes the desired return while satisfying the defined…

Robotics · Computer Science 2023-12-04 Dohyeong Kim , Songhwai Oh

The literature on Inverse Reinforcement Learning (IRL) typically assumes that humans take actions in order to minimize the expected value of a cost function, i.e., that humans are risk neutral. Yet, in practice, humans are often far from…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2018-03-23 Sumeet Singh , Jonathan Lacotte , Anirudha Majumdar , Marco Pavone

In this paper, we study risk-sensitive Reinforcement Learning (RL), focusing on the objective of Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) with risk tolerance $\tau$. Starting with multi-arm bandits (MABs), we show the minimax CVaR regret rate is…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2023-05-26 Kaiwen Wang , Nathan Kallus , Wen Sun

In risk-averse reinforcement learning (RL), the goal is to optimize some risk measure of the returns. A risk measure often focuses on the worst returns out of the agent's experience. As a result, standard methods for risk-averse RL often…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2022-10-13 Ido Greenberg , Yinlam Chow , Mohammad Ghavamzadeh , Shie Mannor

This paper proposes a safety analysis method that facilitates a tunable balance between the worst-case and risk-neutral perspectives. First, we define a risk-sensitive safe set to specify the degree of safety attained by a stochastic…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2020-07-28 Margaret P. Chapman , Jonathan P. Lacotte , Kevin M. Smith , Insoon Yang , Yuxi Han , Marco Pavone , Claire J. Tomlin

In standard reinforcement learning (RL), a learning agent seeks to optimize the overall reward. However, many key aspects of a desired behavior are more naturally expressed as constraints. For instance, the designer may want to limit the…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2021-01-29 Sobhan Miryoosefi , Kianté Brantley , Hal Daumé , Miroslav Dudik , Robert Schapire

In real-world scenarios, risk-averse learning is valuable for mitigating potential adverse outcomes. However, the delayed feedback makes it challenging to assess and manage risk effectively. In this paper, we investigate risk-averse…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-08-06 Siyi Wang , Zifan Wang , Karl Henrik Johansson , Sandra Hirche

Offline reinforcement learning (RL) enables policy learning from fixed datasets without further environment interaction, making it particularly valuable in high-risk or costly domains. Extreme $Q$-Learning (XQL) is a recent offline RL…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-04-15 Xinming Gao , Shangzhe Li , Yujin Cai , Wenwu Yu

Several works have addressed the problem of incorporating constraints in the reinforcement learning (RL) framework, however majority of them can only guarantee the satisfaction of soft constraints. In this work, we address the problem of…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2020-06-16 Kwangyeon Kim , Akshita Gupta , Hong-Cheol Choi , Inseok Hwang

This paper proposes a unified control framework based on Response-Aware Risk-Constrained Control Barrier Function for dynamic safety boundary control of vehicles. Addressing the problem of physical model parameter mismatch, the framework…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2026-03-27 Qijun Liao , Jue Yang

Reinforcement learning (RL) in real-world safety-critical target settings like urban driving is hazardous, imperiling the RL agent, other agents, and the environment. To overcome this difficulty, we propose a "safety-critical adaptation"…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2021-01-19 Jesse Zhang , Brian Cheung , Chelsea Finn , Sergey Levine , Dinesh Jayaraman

We study risk-sensitive Reinforcement Learning (RL), where we aim to maximize the Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) with a fixed risk tolerance $\tau$. Prior theoretical work studying risk-sensitive RL focuses on the tabular Markov Decision…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2023-11-21 Yulai Zhao , Wenhao Zhan , Xiaoyan Hu , Ho-fung Leung , Farzan Farnia , Wen Sun , Jason D. Lee

Quantum control is concerned with the realisation of desired dynamics in quantum systems, serving as a linchpin for advancing quantum technologies and fundamental research. Analytic approaches and standard optimisation algorithms do not…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2025-05-29 Jan Ole Ernst , Aniket Chatterjee , Tim Franzmeyer , Axel Kuhn