The Reinforcement Learning Workshop

Start with the basics of reinforcement learning and explore deep learning concepts such as deep Q-learning, deep recurrent Q-networks, and policy-based methods with this practical guide

Key Features

• Use TensorFlow to write reinforcement learning agents for performing challenging tasks
• Learn how to solve finite Markov decision problems
• Train models to understand popular video games like Breakout

Book Description

Various intelligent applications such as video games, inventory management software, warehouse robots, and translation tools use reinforcement learning (RL) to make decisions and perform actions that maximize the probability of the desired outcome. This book will help you to get to grips with the techniques and the algorithms for implementing RL in your machine learning models.

Starting with an introduction to RL, you'll be guided through different RL environments and frameworks. You'll learn how to implement your own custom environments and use OpenAI baselines to run RL algorithms. Once you've explored classic RL techniques such as Dynamic Programming, Monte Carlo, and TD Learning, you'll understand when to apply the different deep learning methods in RL and advance to deep Q-learning. The book will even help you understand the different stages of machine-based problem-solving by using DARQN on a popular video game Breakout. Finally, you'll find out when to use a policy-based method to tackle an RL problem.

By the end of The Reinforcement Learning Workshop, you'll be equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to solve challenging problems using reinforcement learning.

What you will learn

• Use OpenAI Gym as a framework to implement RL environments
• Find out how to define and implement reward function
• Explore Markov chain, Markov decision process, and the Bellman equation
• Distinguish between Dynamic Programming, Monte Carlo, and Temporal Difference Learning
• Understand the multi-armed bandit problem and explore various strategies to solve it
• Build a deep Q model network for playing the video game Breakout

Who this book is for

If you are a data scientist, machine learning enthusiast, or a Python developer who wants to learn basic to advanced deep reinforcement learning algorithms, this workshop is for you. A basic understanding of the Python language is necessary.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to Reinforcement Learning
2. Markov Decision Processes and Bellman Equations
3. Deep Learning in Practice with TensorFlow 2
4. Getting Started with OpenAI and TensorFlow for Reinforcement Learning
5. Dynamic Programming
6. Monte Carlo Methods
7. Temporal Difference Learning
8. The Multi-Armed Bandit Problem
9. What Is Deep Q Learning?
10. Playing an Atari Game with Deep Recurrent Q Networks
11. Policy-Based Methods for Reinforcement Learning
12. Evolutionary Strategies for RL

Alessandro Palmas is an aerospace engineer with more than 7 years of proven expertise in software development for advanced scientific applications and complex software systems. His main ML focus is on computer vision, 3D models, volumetric networks, and deep reinforcement learning. He also founded innovative initiatives, his last being Artificial Twin, which provides advanced technologies for machine learning, physical modeling, and computational geometry applications. Two key areas in which current Artificial Twin deep RL work is focused on are video games entertainment, and guidance, navigation & control systems.

Emanuele Ghelfi is a computer science and machine learning engineer. He received an M.Sc. degree in computer science and engineering at Politecnico di Milano in December 2018. In his thesis, he proposed a new RL algorithm for an MDP extension. The paper from the thesis got accepted at ICML 2019.

Dr. Alexandra Galina Petre is a machine learning and data science expert, currently leading and teaching various engineering modules in Coventry, United Kingdom. She received her Ph.D. in user feedback-based reinforcement learning for vehicle comfort control with a focus on revolutionary heating ventilation and air conditioning SARSA-based control systems that can learn from the driver's preferential changes to the UI.

Mayur Kulkarni works in the Machine Learning research team at Microsoft and has previously been at IIT Bombay, and IIM Lucknow. He has also been an instructor for the postgraduate programs in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at UpGrad and IIIT Bangalore, covering topics in Deep Reinforcement Learning. He is one of the contributors to DVC, torch, and scikit-learn, which are some of the most popular open-source machine learning libraries in Python.

Anand N.S. has more than two decades of technology experience working, with a strong hands-on track record of application of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science to create measurable business outcomes. He has been granted several US patents in the areas of data science, machine learning, and artificial Intelligence.

Quan Nguyen is a programmer with a special interest in scientific computing, data analysis, and artificial intelligence. Before publishing his first book with Packt, he was a primary contributor to the book Python for Scientists and Engineers and various open-source projects on GitHub. He is also a writer for the Python Software Foundation and Oracle's AI and Data Science blog.

Aritra Sen currently works as a data scientist in Ericsson. His current role includes building and deploying large scale machine learning solutions for the telecom industry. He has around 10 years of experience in data science and business intelligence.

Anthony So is an outstanding leader with more than 13 years of experience. He is recognized for his analytical skills and data-driven approach for solving complex business problems and driving performance improvements. He is also a successful coach and mentor with capabilities in statistical analysis and expertise in machine learning with Python.

Saikat Basak is a data scientist and a passionate programmer. Having worked with multiple industry leaders, he has a good understanding of problem areas that can potentially be solved using data. Apart from being a data guy, he is also a science geek and loves to explore new ideas in the frontiers of science and technology.