A reward allocation method for reinforcement learning in stabilizing control tasks

Reinforcement learning is an area of machine learning that does not require detailed teaching signals by a human, which is expected to be applied to real robots. In its application to real robots, the learning processes are required to be finished in a short learning period of time. A reinforcement learning method of model-free type has fast convergence speeds in the tasks such as Sutton’s maze problem that aims to reach the target state in a minimum time. However, these methods are difficult to learn task to keep a stable state as long as possible. In this study, we improve the reward allocation method for the stabilizing control tasks. In stabilizing control tasks, we use the Semi-Markov decision process as an environment model. The validity of our method is demonstrated through simulation for stabilizing control of an inverted pendulum.