Robust and Scalable Autonomous Reinforcement Learning in Irreversible Environments

Sang-Hyun Lee

Keywords: Reinforcement Learning, Autonomous Reinforcement Learning

Abstract: Reinforcement learning (RL) typically assumes repetitive resets to provide an agent with diverse and unbiased experiences. These resets require significant human intervention and result in poor training efficiency in real-world settings. Autonomous RL (ARL) addresses this challenge by jointly training forward and reset policies. While recent ARL algorithms have shown promise in reducing human intervention, they assume narrow support over the distributions of initial or goal states and rely on task-specific knowledge to identify irreversible states. In this paper, we propose a robust and scalable ARL algorithm, called RSA, that enables an agent to handle diverse initial and goal states and to avoid irreversible states without task-specific knowledge. RSA generates a curriculum by identifying informative states based on the learning progress of an agent. We hypothesize that informative states are neither overly difficult nor trivially easy for the agent being trained. To detect and avoid irreversible states without task-specific knowledge, RSA encodes the behaviors exhibited in those states rather than the states themselves. Experimental results demonstrate that RSA outperforms existing ARL algorithms with fewer manual resets in both reversible and irreversible environments.

Primary Area: Reinforcement learning (e.g., decision and control, planning, hierarchical RL, robotics)

Submission Number: 19843