Adaptive Smooth Tchebycheff Attention for Multi-Objective Policy Optimization

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Murillo-Gonzalez, Alejandro, Ali, Mahmoud, Liu, Lantao
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Murillo-Gonzalez, Alejandro
Ali, Mahmoud
Liu, Lantao
author_facet Murillo-Gonzalez, Alejandro
Ali, Mahmoud
Liu, Lantao
contents Multi-objective reinforcement learning in robotic domains requires balancing complex, non-convex trade-offs between conflicting objectives. While linear scalarization methods provide stability, they are theoretically incapable of recovering solutions within non-convex regions of the Pareto front. Conversely, static non-linear scalarizations (e.g., Tchebycheff) can theoretically access these regions but often suffer from severe gradient variance and optimization instability in deep RL. In this work, we propose an Adaptive Smooth Tchebycheff framework that resolves this tension by dynamically modulating the curvature of the optimization landscape. We introduce a novel conflict-driven controller that regulates the optimization smoothness based on real-time gradient interference. This allows the agent to anneal toward precise, non-convex scalarization when objectives align, while elastically reverting to stable, smooth approximations when destructive gradient conflicts emerge. We validate our approach on a challenging robotic stealth visual search task -- a proxy for monitoring of protected/fragile ecosystems -- where an agent must balance search, exposure/interference minimization and exploration speed. Extensive ablations confirm that our conflict-aware adaptation enables the robust discovery of Pareto-optimal policies in non-convex regions inaccessible to linear baselines and unstable for static non-linear methods. Website: https://alejandromllo.github.io/research/pasta/
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_12771
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Adaptive Smooth Tchebycheff Attention for Multi-Objective Policy Optimization
Murillo-Gonzalez, Alejandro
Ali, Mahmoud
Liu, Lantao
Robotics
Artificial Intelligence
Machine Learning
Systems and Control
Optimization and Control
Multi-objective reinforcement learning in robotic domains requires balancing complex, non-convex trade-offs between conflicting objectives. While linear scalarization methods provide stability, they are theoretically incapable of recovering solutions within non-convex regions of the Pareto front. Conversely, static non-linear scalarizations (e.g., Tchebycheff) can theoretically access these regions but often suffer from severe gradient variance and optimization instability in deep RL. In this work, we propose an Adaptive Smooth Tchebycheff framework that resolves this tension by dynamically modulating the curvature of the optimization landscape. We introduce a novel conflict-driven controller that regulates the optimization smoothness based on real-time gradient interference. This allows the agent to anneal toward precise, non-convex scalarization when objectives align, while elastically reverting to stable, smooth approximations when destructive gradient conflicts emerge. We validate our approach on a challenging robotic stealth visual search task -- a proxy for monitoring of protected/fragile ecosystems -- where an agent must balance search, exposure/interference minimization and exploration speed. Extensive ablations confirm that our conflict-aware adaptation enables the robust discovery of Pareto-optimal policies in non-convex regions inaccessible to linear baselines and unstable for static non-linear methods. Website: https://alejandromllo.github.io/research/pasta/
title Adaptive Smooth Tchebycheff Attention for Multi-Objective Policy Optimization
topic Robotics
Artificial Intelligence
Machine Learning
Systems and Control
Optimization and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.12771