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Main Authors: Johnson, Brendon, Weitzenfeld, Alfredo
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.18794
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author Johnson, Brendon
Weitzenfeld, Alfredo
author_facet Johnson, Brendon
Weitzenfeld, Alfredo
contents Hierarchical reinforcement learning (HRL) is hypothesized to be able to leverage the inherent hierarchy in learning tasks where traditional reinforcement learning (RL) often fails. In this research, HRL is evaluated and contrasted with traditional RL in complex robotic navigation tasks. We evaluate unique characteristics of HRL, including its ability to create sub-goals and the termination functions. We constructed a number of experiments to test: 1) the differences between RL proximal policy optimization (PPO) and HRL, 2) different ways of creating sub-goals in HRL, 3) manual vs automatic sub-goal creation in HRL, and 4) the effects of the frequency of termination on performance in HRL. These experiments highlight the advantages of HRL over RL and how it achieves these advantages.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_18794
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning in Multi-Goal Spatial Navigation with Autonomous Mobile Robots
Johnson, Brendon
Weitzenfeld, Alfredo
Artificial Intelligence
Robotics
Hierarchical reinforcement learning (HRL) is hypothesized to be able to leverage the inherent hierarchy in learning tasks where traditional reinforcement learning (RL) often fails. In this research, HRL is evaluated and contrasted with traditional RL in complex robotic navigation tasks. We evaluate unique characteristics of HRL, including its ability to create sub-goals and the termination functions. We constructed a number of experiments to test: 1) the differences between RL proximal policy optimization (PPO) and HRL, 2) different ways of creating sub-goals in HRL, 3) manual vs automatic sub-goal creation in HRL, and 4) the effects of the frequency of termination on performance in HRL. These experiments highlight the advantages of HRL over RL and how it achieves these advantages.
title Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning in Multi-Goal Spatial Navigation with Autonomous Mobile Robots
topic Artificial Intelligence
Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.18794