Patent Document ID: 20130073080
Application ID: 13238932
Patent Flag: 0

Claim One:
1. A computerized control apparatus configured to optimize control of a robotic device, the control apparatus comprising: a plant block in communication with the robotic device, the plant block configured to output a current plant state signal; an actor block configured to receive a target plant state signal, a current plant state signal, and a reinforcement signal, and to communicate a control signal to the plant block; and a critic block configured to receive the control signal from the actor block, and to provide the reinforcement signal to the actor block, the critic block comprising: an interpolator configured to receive the target plant state signal, a present value of the current plant state signal, and a present performance value, and to provide a prior performance value; wherein: the present value of the current plant state signal corresponds to a second time instance and the present performance value configured based at least in part on the target plant state signal and the present value of the current plant state signal; and the prior performance value is selected by the interpolator based at least in part on: (i) the present value of the current plant state signal being within a first predetermined threshold from a past value of the current plant state signal, the past value of the current plant state signal corresponding to a first time instance; and (ii) the target plant state signal being within a second predetermined threshold from a past value of the target plant state signal, the past value of the target plant state signal corresponding to the first time instance; and a comparator configured to determine the reinforcement signal based at least in part on the past performance value and the present performance value; wherein the actor block is configured to modify at least one control parameter associated with the control apparatus based at least in part on a receipt of the reinforcement signal by the actor block, said modification configured to effect optimized control of said robotic device.