VLM-RL: A Unified Vision Language Models and Reinforcement Learning Framework for Safe Autonomous Driving

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Huang, Zilin, Sheng, Zihao, Qu, Yansong, You, Junwei, Chen, Sikai
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Huang, Zilin
Sheng, Zihao
Qu, Yansong
You, Junwei
Chen, Sikai
author_facet Huang, Zilin
Sheng, Zihao
Qu, Yansong
You, Junwei
Chen, Sikai
contents In recent years, reinforcement learning (RL)-based methods for learning driving policies have gained increasing attention in the autonomous driving community and have achieved remarkable progress in various driving scenarios. However, traditional RL approaches rely on manually engineered rewards, which require extensive human effort and often lack generalizability. To address these limitations, we propose \textbf{VLM-RL}, a unified framework that integrates pre-trained Vision-Language Models (VLMs) with RL to generate reward signals using image observation and natural language goals. The core of VLM-RL is the contrasting language goal (CLG)-as-reward paradigm, which uses positive and negative language goals to generate semantic rewards. We further introduce a hierarchical reward synthesis approach that combines CLG-based semantic rewards with vehicle state information, improving reward stability and offering a more comprehensive reward signal. Additionally, a batch-processing technique is employed to optimize computational efficiency during training. Extensive experiments in the CARLA simulator demonstrate that VLM-RL outperforms state-of-the-art baselines, achieving a 10.5\% reduction in collision rate, a 104.6\% increase in route completion rate, and robust generalization to unseen driving scenarios. Furthermore, VLM-RL can seamlessly integrate almost any standard RL algorithms, potentially revolutionizing the existing RL paradigm that relies on manual reward engineering and enabling continuous performance improvements. The demo video and code can be accessed at: https://zilin-huang.github.io/VLM-RL-website.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_15544
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle VLM-RL: A Unified Vision Language Models and Reinforcement Learning Framework for Safe Autonomous Driving
Huang, Zilin
Sheng, Zihao
Qu, Yansong
You, Junwei
Chen, Sikai
Robotics
Artificial Intelligence
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
In recent years, reinforcement learning (RL)-based methods for learning driving policies have gained increasing attention in the autonomous driving community and have achieved remarkable progress in various driving scenarios. However, traditional RL approaches rely on manually engineered rewards, which require extensive human effort and often lack generalizability. To address these limitations, we propose \textbf{VLM-RL}, a unified framework that integrates pre-trained Vision-Language Models (VLMs) with RL to generate reward signals using image observation and natural language goals. The core of VLM-RL is the contrasting language goal (CLG)-as-reward paradigm, which uses positive and negative language goals to generate semantic rewards. We further introduce a hierarchical reward synthesis approach that combines CLG-based semantic rewards with vehicle state information, improving reward stability and offering a more comprehensive reward signal. Additionally, a batch-processing technique is employed to optimize computational efficiency during training. Extensive experiments in the CARLA simulator demonstrate that VLM-RL outperforms state-of-the-art baselines, achieving a 10.5\% reduction in collision rate, a 104.6\% increase in route completion rate, and robust generalization to unseen driving scenarios. Furthermore, VLM-RL can seamlessly integrate almost any standard RL algorithms, potentially revolutionizing the existing RL paradigm that relies on manual reward engineering and enabling continuous performance improvements. The demo video and code can be accessed at: https://zilin-huang.github.io/VLM-RL-website.
title VLM-RL: A Unified Vision Language Models and Reinforcement Learning Framework for Safe Autonomous Driving
topic Robotics
Artificial Intelligence
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.15544