Patent ID: 11860589
Assignee: HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC.
Field: Control (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 0:
1. A method of controlling one or more pieces of equipment using a controller, the method comprising:
the controller controlling one or more pieces of equipment by providing control actions to the one or more pieces of equipment, wherein the controller implements a policy that produces a corresponding performance level in controlling the one or more pieces of equipment;
while controlling the one or more pieces of equipment, and during each of a plurality of iterations:
updating the policy of the controller;
controlling the one or more pieces of equipment by providing updated control actions taken by the controller in accordance with the updated policy; and
identifying an updated performance level of the controller in controlling the one or more pieces of equipment;
associating the updated policy with the updated performance level of the controller in controlling the one or more pieces of equipment;
wherein for each iteration, the updated policy is determined using the associations generated during one or more previous iterations between the policies and the corresponding performance levels of the controller in controlling the one or more pieces of equipment, such that the updated policy is optimized to have a highest likelihood of producing a positive sign in a change in the performance level of the controller in controlling the one or more pieces of equipment without regard to a magnitude of the change rather than optimized to have a highest likelihood of producing a largest positive magnitude of change in the performance level of the controller in controlling the one or more pieces of equipment relative to the previous iteration; and
wherein for each iteration, the updated policy is determined using reinforcement learning based on an advantage function, and wherein the updated policy is optimized to have a highest likelihood of producing an advantage function sign that is positive while ignoring an absolute value of the advantage function.