Papers › Multi-Pass Q-Networks for Deep Reinforcement Learning with Parameterised Action Spaces

Multi-Pass Q-Networks for Deep Reinforcement Learning with Parameterised Action Spaces

10 May 2019arXiv:1905.04388archive 2025-07-28

Craig J. Bester, Steven D. James, George D. Konidaris

Parameterised actions in reinforcement learning are composed of discrete actions with continuous action-parameters. This provides a framework for solving complex domains that require combining high-level actions with flexible control. The recent P-DQN algorithm extends deep Q-networks to learn over such action spaces. However, it treats all action-parameters as a single joint input to the Q-network, invalidating its theoretical foundations. We analyse the issues with this approach and propose a novel method, multi-pass deep Q-networks, or MP-DQN, to address them. We empirically demonstrate that MP-DQN significantly outperforms P-DQN and other previous algorithms in terms of data efficiency and converged policy performance on the Platform, Robot Soccer Goal, and Half Field Offense domains.

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