A new deep Q-learning method with dynamic epsilon adjustment and path planner assisted techniques for Turtlebot mobile robot

摘要

Deep Q-learning (DQL) method has been proven a great success in autonomous mobile robots. However, the routine of DQL can often yield improper agent behavior (multiple circling-in-place actions) that comes with long training episodes until convergence. To address such problem, this project develops novel techniques that improve DQL training in both simulations and physical experiments. Specifically, the Dynamic Epsilon Adjustment method is integrated to reduce the frequency of non-ideal agent behaviors and therefore improve the control performance (i.e., goal rate). A Dynamic Window Approach (DWA) global path planner is designed in the physical training process so that the agent can reach more goals with less collision within a fixed amount of episodes. The GMapping Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) method is also applied to provide a SLAM map to the path planner. The experiment results demonstrate that our developed approach can significantly improve the training performance in both simulation and physical training environment.