An online kernel-based clustering approach for value function approximation

Abstract

Value function approximation is a critical task in solving Markov decision processes and accurately modeling reinforcement learning agents. A significant issue is how to construct efficient feature spaces from samples collected by the environment in order to obtain an optimal policy. The particular study addresses this challenge by proposing an on-line kernel-based clustering approach for building appropriate basis functions during the learning process. The method uses a kernel function capable of handling pairs of state-action as sequentially generated by the agent. At each time step, the procedure either adds a new cluster, or adjusts the winning cluster's parameters. By considering the value function as a linear combination of the constructed basis functions, the weights are optimized in a temporal-difference framework in order to minimize the Bellman approximation error. The proposed method is evaluated in numerous known simulated environments. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.