Picking Up and Putting Away Toys using Reinforcement Learning and Genetic Algorithms
This chapter is where the robots start to get challenging – and fun. What we want to do now is have the robot’s manipulator arm start picking up objects. Not only that, but instead of preprogramming arm moves and grasping actions, we want the robot to be able to learn how to pick up objects, and how to move its arm without hitting itself.
How would you teach a child to pick up toys in their room? Would you offer a reward for completing the task, such as “If you pick up your toys, you will get a treat?” Or would you offer a threat of punishment, such as “If you don’t pick up your toys, you can’t play games on your tablet.” This concept, offering positive feedback for good behavior and negative feedback for undesirable actions, is called reinforcement learning. That is one of the ways we will train our robot in this chapter.
If this sounds...
