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Enhancing Sample-Efficient Exploration in Continuous Control Tasks through Model-Based Intrinsic Motivation and Active Online Planning


Concepts de base
The core message of this paper is to introduce an RL algorithm, the ACE planner, that incorporates a predictive model and off-policy learning elements to achieve sample-efficient exploration in continuous control tasks. The ACE planner leverages a novelty-aware terminal value function and an exponentially re-weighted version of the model-based value expansion (MVE) target to boost exploration and accelerate credit assignment.
Résumé

The paper presents the ACE planner, a model-based RL algorithm that combines online planning and off-policy agent learning to address the sample efficiency problem in continuous control tasks. The key highlights and insights are:

  1. The ACE planner incorporates a predictive model and off-policy learning elements, where an online planner enhanced by a novelty-aware terminal value function is employed for sample collection.
  2. The authors derive an intrinsic reward based on the forward predictive error within a latent state space, which establishes a solid connection to model uncertainty and allows the agent to effectively overcome the asymptotic performance gap.
  3. The paper introduces an exponentially re-weighted version of the MVE target, which facilitates accelerated credit assignment for off-policy agent learning.
  4. Theoretical and experimental validation demonstrate the benefits of the novelty-aware value function learned using the intrinsic reward for online planning.
  5. The ACE planner consistently outperforms existing state-of-the-art algorithms, showing superior asymptotic performance across diverse environments with dense rewards. It also excels in solving hard exploration problems and remains competitive even in comparison to an oracle agent with access to the shaped reward function.
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Stats
The paper does not provide specific numerical metrics or figures to support the key logics. The results are presented in the form of performance curves and aggregated benchmark scores.
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Questions plus approfondies

How can the ACE planner be extended to handle long-horizon tasks with multiple intermediate subgoals more effectively

To handle long-horizon tasks with multiple intermediate subgoals more effectively, the ACE planner can be extended by incorporating a hierarchical planning approach. This hierarchical structure would allow the agent to reason at different levels of abstraction, enabling it to navigate through complex tasks with multiple subgoals. By breaking down the task into smaller subgoals and planning actions accordingly, the agent can efficiently explore the environment and achieve long-horizon objectives. Additionally, the planner can utilize a sub-goal generator to identify and prioritize intermediate subgoals, facilitating successful task completion in intricate environments.

How can the intrinsic reward design be improved to handle uncontrollable factors, such as the noisy-TV problem, in stochastic environments

To improve the intrinsic reward design for handling uncontrollable factors like the noisy-TV problem in stochastic environments, several strategies can be implemented. One approach is to incorporate uncertainty quantification techniques to account for the variability and noise in the environment. By integrating uncertainty estimates into the intrinsic reward calculation, the agent can adapt its exploration strategy based on the level of uncertainty present in the environment. Additionally, introducing a regularization mechanism to the intrinsic reward function can help mitigate the impact of noisy signals and ensure stable learning in stochastic settings. By enhancing the robustness and adaptability of the intrinsic reward design, the ACE planner can effectively navigate through challenging and unpredictable environments.

What other representation learning techniques could be integrated with the ACE planner to yield more disentangled state embeddings and further improve exploration efficiency

Integrating other representation learning techniques with the ACE planner can yield more disentangled state embeddings and further improve exploration efficiency. One such technique is Variational Autoencoders (VAEs), which can learn a latent space representation that disentangles underlying factors of variation in the environment. By incorporating VAEs into the ACE planner, the agent can extract meaningful and interpretable features from the state space, enabling more efficient exploration and decision-making. Additionally, Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) can be utilized to generate diverse and realistic state samples for training the agent, enhancing the diversity of experiences and improving the generalization capabilities of the ACE planner. By leveraging advanced representation learning techniques, the ACE planner can achieve higher levels of performance and sample efficiency in complex and diverse environments.
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