Inferring cost functions using reward parameter search and policy gradient reinforcement learning

Abstract

This study focuses on inferring cost functions of obtained movement data using reward parameter search and policy gradient based Reinforcement Learning (RL). The behavior data for this task is obtained through a series of squat-to-stand movements of human participants under dynamic perturbations. The key parameter searched in the cost function is the weight of total torque used in performing the squat-to-stand action. An approximate model is used to learn squat-to-stand movements via a policy gradient method, namely Proximal Policy Optimization(PPO). A behavioral similarity metric based on Center of Mass(COM) is used to find the most likely weight parameter. The stochasticity in the training result of PPO is dealt with multiple runs, and as a result, a reasonable and a stable Inverse Reinforcement Learning(IRL) algorithm is obtained in terms of performance. The results indicate that for some participants, the reward function parameters of the experts were inferred successfully.