Abstract for tham_ml94

To appear in: Machine Learning: Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference (ML'94), New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA. July 1994. Editors: Cohen, W.W. and Hirsh, H. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.

A MODULAR Q-LEARNING ARCHITECTURE FOR MANIPULATOR TASK DECOMPOSITION

Chen K. Tham & Richard W. Prager

April 1994

Compositional Q-Learning (CQ-L) (Singh, 1992) is a modular approach to learning to perform composite tasks made up of several elemental tasks by reinforcement learning. Skills acquired while performing elemental tasks are also applied to solve composite tasks. Individual skills compete for the right to act and only winning skills are included in the decomposition of the composite task. We extend the original CQ-L concept in two ways: (1) a more general reward function, and (2) the agent can have more than one actuator. We use the CQ-L architecture to acquire skills for performing composite tasks with a simulated two-linked manipulator having large state and action spaces. The manipulator is a non-linear dynamical system and we require its end-effector to be at specific positions in the workspace. Fast function approximation in each of the Q-modules is achieved through the use of an array of Cerebellar Model Articulation Controller (CMAC) (Albus, 1975) structures.


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