Geodesic Gaussian kernels for value function approximation
The least-squares policy iteration approach works efficiently in value function approximation, given appropriate basis functions. Because of its smoothness, the Gaussian kernel is a popular and useful choice as a basis function. However, it does not allow for discontinuity which typically arises in real-world reinforcement learning tasks. In this paper, we propose a new basis function based on geodesic Gaussian kernels, which exploits the non-linear manifold structure induced by the Markov decision processes. The usefulness of the proposed method is successfully demonstrated in simulated robot arm control and Khepera robot navigation.
gaussian kernel value function approximation least-squares policy iteration reinforcement learning markov decision process