Agent-based methods allow for defining simple rules that generate complex group behaviors. The governing rules of such models are typically set a priori and parameters are tuned from observed behavior trajectories. Instead of making simplifying assumptions across all anticipated scenarios, inverse reinforcement learning provides inference on the short-term (local) rules governing long term behavior policies by using properties of a Markov decision process. We use the computationally efficient linearly-solvable Markov decision process to learn the local rules governing collective movement for a simulation of the self propelled-particle (SPP) model and a data application for a captive guppy population. The estimation of the behavioral decision costs is done in a Bayesian framework with basis function smoothing. We recover the true costs in the SPP simulation and find the guppies value collective movement more than targeted movement toward shelter.

This paper presents a novel approach for job shop scheduling problems using deep reinforcement learning. To account for the complexity of production environment, we employ graph neural networks to model the various relations within production environments. Furthermore, we cast the JSSP as a distributed optimization problem in which learning agents are individually assigned to resources which allows for higher flexibility with respect to changing production environments. The proposed distributed RL agents used to optimize production schedules for single resources are running together with a co-simulation framework of the production environment to obtain the required amount of data. The approach is applied to a multi-robot environment and a complex production scheduling benchmark environment. The initial results underline the applicability and performance of the proposed method.

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) are being increasingly deployed for commercial, civilian, and military applications. The current UAS state-of-the-art still depends on a remote human controller with robust wireless links to perform several of these applications. The lack of autonomy restricts the domains of application and tasks for which a UAS can be deployed. Enabling autonomy and intelligence to the UAS will help overcome this hurdle and expand its use improving safety and efficiency. The exponential increase in computing resources and the availability of large amount of data in this digital era has led to the resurgence of machine learning from its last winter. Therefore, in this chapter, we discuss how some of the advances in machine learning, specifically deep learning and reinforcement learning can be leveraged to develop next-generation autonomous UAS. We first begin motivating this chapter by discussing the application, challenges, and opportunities of the current UAS in the introductory section. We then provide an overview of some of the key deep learning and reinforcement learning techniques discussed throughout this chapter. A key area of focus that will be essential to enable autonomy to UAS is computer vision. Accordingly, we discuss how deep learning approaches have been used to accomplish some of the basic tasks that contribute to providing UAS autonomy. Then we discuss how reinforcement learning is explored for using this information to provide autonomous control and navigation for UAS. Next, we provide the reader with directions to choose appropriate simulation suites and hardware platforms that will help to rapidly prototype novel machine learning based solutions for UAS. We additionally discuss the open problems and challenges pertaining to each aspect of developing autonomous UAS solutions to shine light on potential research areas.

We study the problem of experiment design to learn causal structures from interventional data. We consider an active learning setting in which the experimenter decides to intervene on one of the variables in the system in each step and uses the results of the intervention to recover further causal relationships among the variables. The goal is to fully identify the causal structures with minimum number of interventions. We present the first deep reinforcement learning based solution for the problem of experiment design. In the proposed method, we embed input graphs to vectors using a graph neural network and feed them to another neural network which outputs a variable for performing intervention in each step. Both networks are trained jointly via a Q-iteration algorithm. Experimental results show that the proposed method achieves competitive performance in recovering causal structures with respect to previous works, while significantly reducing execution time in dense graphs.

Knowledge transfer is a promising concept to achieve real-time decision-making for autonomous vehicles. This paper constructs a transfer deep reinforcement learning framework to transform the driving tasks in inter-section environments. The driving missions at the un-signalized intersection are cast into a left turn, right turn, and running straight for automated vehicles. The goal of the autonomous ego vehicle (AEV) is to drive through the intersection situation efficiently and safely. This objective promotes the studied vehicle to increase its speed and avoid crashing other vehicles. The decision-making pol-icy learned from one driving task is transferred and evaluated in another driving mission. Simulation results reveal that the decision-making strategies related to similar tasks are transferable. It indicates that the presented control framework could reduce the time consumption and realize online implementation.

The dm_control software package is a collection of Python libraries and task suites for reinforcement learning agents in an articulated-body simulation. A MuJoCo wrapper provides convenient bindings to functions and data structures. The PyMJCF and Composer libraries enable procedural model manipulation and task authoring. The Control Suite is a fixed set of tasks with standardised structure, intended to serve as performance benchmarks. The Locomotion framework provides high-level abstractions and examples of locomotion tasks. A set of configurable manipulation tasks with a robot arm and snap-together bricks is also included. dm_control is publicly available at https://www.github.com/deepmind/dm_control

We study a dynamic pricing and capacity sizing problem in a GI/GI/1 queue, where the service provider's objective is to obtain the optimal service fee $p$ and service capacity $\mu$ so as to maximize cumulative expected profit (the service revenue minus the staffing cost and delay penalty). Due to the complex nature of the queueing dynamics, such a problem has no analytic solution so that previous research often resorts to heavy-traffic analysis in that both the arrival rate and service rate are sent to infinity. In this work we propose an online learning framework designed for solving this problem which does not require the system's scale to increase. Our algorithm organizes the time horizon into successive operational cycles and prescribes an efficient procedure to obtain improved pricing and staffing policies in each cycle using data collected in previous cycles. Data here include the number of customer arrivals, waiting times, and the server's busy times. The ingenuity of this approach lies in its online nature, which allows the service provider do better by interacting with the environment. Effectiveness of our online learning algorithm is substantiated by (i) theoretical results including the algorithm convergence and regret analysis (with a logarithmic regret bound), and (ii) engineering confirmation via simulation experiments of a variety of representative GI/GI/1 queues.

OpenAI Gym is a toolkit that provides a wide variety of simulated environments (Atari games, board games, 2D and 3D physical simulations, and so on), so you can train agents, compare them, or develop new Machine Learning algorithms (Reinforcement Learning). OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research company, funded in part by Elon Musk. Its stated goal is to promote and develop friendly AIs that will benefit humanity (rather than exterminate it). In this article, I will be using the OpenAI gym, a great toolkit for developing and comparing Reinforcement Learning algorithms. It provides many environments for your learning agents to interact with.

As always, it's going to come down to your application and your history. From the sounds of it, you'll be a very strong candidate based on your theory background -- You just need to find the right school / supervisor that will see how to help you pursue those interests. Look for schools with good AI programs. Knowing the research focuses at the CS Department in the University of Alberta, I think you'd have a good shot there with a number of supervisors, both in reinforcement learning and in machine learning. Really though, it's going to come down to a demonstration that you can do the research, via your reference letters, CV, etc.

Recent advancements in quantum computing have driven the scientific community's quest to solve a certain class of complex problems for which quantum computers would be better suited than traditional supercomputers. To improve the efficiency with which quantum computers can solve these problems, scientists are investigating the use of artificial intelligence approaches. In a new study, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have developed a new algorithm based on reinforcement learning to find the optimal parameters for the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA), which allows a quantum computer to solve certain combinatorial problems such as those that arise in materials design, chemistry and wireless communications. "It's a bit like having a self-driving car in traffic; the algorithm can detect when it needs to make adjustments in the'dials' it uses to do the computation." "Combinatorial optimization problems are those for which the solution space gets exponentially larger as you expand the number of decision variables," said Argonne computer scientist Prasanna Balaprakash.