Search

In recent years, various powerful policy gradient algorithms have been proposed in deep reinforcement learning. While all these algorithms build on the Policy Gradient Theorem, the specific design choices differ significantly across algorithms. We provide a holistic overview of on-policy policy gradient algorithms to facilitate the understanding of both their theoretical foundations and their practical implementations. In this overview, we include a detailed proof of the continuous version of the Policy Gradient Theorem, convergence results and a comprehensive discussion of practical algorithms. We compare the most prominent algorithms on continuous control environments and provide insights on the benefits of regularization. All code is available at https://github.com/Matt00n/PolicyGradientsJax.

In a previous work we have demonstrated a novel numerical model for the point spread function (PSF) of an optical system that can efficiently model both experimental measurements and lens design simulations of the PSF. The novelty lies in the portability and the parameterization of this model, which allows for completely new ways to validate optical systems, which is especially interesting for mass production optics like in the automotive industry, but also for ophtalmology. The numerical basis for this model is a non-linear regression of the PSF with an artificial neural network (ANN). In this work we examine two important aspects of this model: the spatial resolution and the accuracy of the model. Measurement and simulation of a PSF can have a much higher resolution then the typical pixel size used in current camera sensors, especially those for the automotive industry. We discuss the influence this has on on the topology of the ANN and the final application where the modeled PSF is actually used. Another important influence on the accuracy of the trained ANN is the error metric which is used during training. The PSF is a distinctly non-linear function, which varies strongly over field and defocus, but nonetheless exhibits strong symmetries and spatial relations. Therefore we examine different distance and similarity measures and discuss its influence on the modeling performance of the ANN., Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, submitted and accepted for SPIE Optical Systems Design, 2018, Frankfurt, Germany. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1801.02197

Training autonomous vehicles requires lots of driving sequences in all situations\cite{zhao2016}. Typically a simulation environment (software-in-the-loop, SiL) accompanies real-world test drives to systematically vary environmental parameters. A missing piece in the optical model of those SiL simulations is the sharpness, given in linear system theory by the point-spread function (PSF) of the optical system. We present a novel numerical model for the PSF of an optical system that can efficiently model both experimental measurements and lens design simulations of the PSF. The numerical basis for this model is a non-linear regression of the PSF with an artificial neural network (ANN). The novelty lies in the portability and the parameterization of this model, which allows to apply this model in basically any conceivable optical simulation scenario, e.g. inserting a measured lens into a computer game to train autonomous vehicles. We present a lens measurement series, yielding a numerical function for the PSF that depends only on the parameters defocus, field and azimuth. By convolving existing images and videos with this PSF model we apply the measured lens as a transfer function, therefore generating an image as if it were seen with the measured lens itself. Applications of this method are in any optical scenario, but we focus on the context of autonomous driving, where quality of the detection algorithms depends directly on the optical quality of the used camera system. With the parameterization of the optical model we present a method to validate the functional and safety limits of camera-based ADAS based on the real, measured lens actually used in the product., Comment: 5 pages, 12 figures, submitted and accepted for IS&T Electronic Imaging, Autonomous Vehicles and Machines 2018