Data-Efficient Reinforcement Learning with Data Augmented Episodic Memory

Abstract

Reinforcement learning has been implemented to model a task by doing the task repeatedly to get the maximum results based on the reward and punishment policy. It has been implemented in the game and agent-based modelling. In the game, the game agent or Non-Players character can be modelled using several techniques to achieve the goal (e.g. reinforcement learning, deep neural network and Monte Carlo Tree Search). Deep neural networks and Monte Carlo Tree Search, two more sophisticated techniques in reinforcement learning algorithms, assisted the present reinforcement learning in resolving more challenging issues. However, this area has two challenges: the minimum number of data to model and generalization to different environments. Determining a minimum number of data required by the architecture to train the model is quite a cumbersome task to be applied to real- world jobs and situations since it demands substantial data to be explicitly provided and trial-and-error re-configuration. This work proposes a Data-Efficient Reinforcement Learning model by augmenting the data and implementing episodic memory. To illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed model, this research compares it to several models, such as the Deep Q-Network (DQN) with episodic memory to the same model with data augmentation and episodic memory. The model adds to the observations before being stored in the agent's memory, causing the agent to use the same logic and take the same action in comparable situations. The outcome demonstrates that the augmented model can surpass the fundamental model in speed (with an improvement of 50% quicker).