Double Deep Q-Network (DDQN)

DDQN is a model-free, off-policy algorithm that relies on double Q-learning to avoid the overestimation of action-values introduced by DQN

Paper: Deep Reinforcement Learning with Double Q-Learning



Algorithm


Algorithm implementation


Decision making


act(...)
\(\epsilon \leftarrow \epsilon_{_{final}} + (\epsilon_{_{initial}} - \epsilon_{_{final}}) \; e^{-1 \; \frac{\text{timestep}}{\epsilon_{_{timesteps}}}}\)
\(a \leftarrow \begin{cases} a \in_R A & x < \epsilon \\ \underset{a}{\arg\max} \; Q_\phi(s) & x \geq \epsilon \end{cases} \qquad\) for \(\; x \leftarrow U(0,1)\)

Learning algorithm


_update(...)
# sample a batch from memory
[\(s, a, r, s', d\)] \(\leftarrow\) states, actions, rewards, next_states, dones of size batch_size
# gradient steps
FOR each gradient step up to gradient_steps DO
# compute target values
\(Q' \leftarrow Q_{\phi_{target}}(s')\)
\(Q_{_{target}} \leftarrow Q'[\underset{a}{\arg\max} \; Q_\phi(s')] \qquad\) # the only difference with DQN
\(y \leftarrow r \;+\) discount_factor \(\neg d \; Q_{_{target}}\)
# compute Q-network loss
\(Q \leftarrow Q_\phi(s)[a]\)
\({Loss}_{Q_\phi} \leftarrow \frac{1}{N} \sum_{i=1}^N (Q - y)^2\)
# optimize Q-network
\(\nabla_{\phi} {Loss}_{Q_\phi}\)
# update target network
IF it’s time to update target network THEN
\(\phi_{target} \leftarrow\) polyak \(\phi + (1 \;-\) polyak \() \phi_{target}\)
# update learning rate
IF there is a learning_rate_scheduler THEN
step \(\text{scheduler}_\phi (\text{optimizer}_\phi)\)

Usage

# import the agent and its default configuration
from skrl.agents.torch.dqn import DDQN, DDQN_DEFAULT_CONFIG

# instantiate the agent's models
models = {}
models["q_network"] = ...
models["target_q_network"] = ...  # only required during training

# adjust some configuration if necessary
cfg_agent = DDQN_DEFAULT_CONFIG.copy()
cfg_agent["<KEY>"] = ...

# instantiate the agent
# (assuming a defined environment <env> and memory <memory>)
agent = DDQN(models=models,
             memory=memory,  # only required during training
             cfg=cfg_agent,
             observation_space=env.observation_space,
             action_space=env.action_space,
             device=env.device)

Configuration and hyperparameters

DDQN_DEFAULT_CONFIG = {
    "gradient_steps": 1,            # gradient steps
    "batch_size": 64,               # training batch size

    "discount_factor": 0.99,        # discount factor (gamma)
    "polyak": 0.005,                # soft update hyperparameter (tau)

    "learning_rate": 1e-3,          # learning rate
    "learning_rate_scheduler": None,        # learning rate scheduler class (see torch.optim.lr_scheduler)
    "learning_rate_scheduler_kwargs": {},   # learning rate scheduler's kwargs (e.g. {"step_size": 1e-3})

    "state_preprocessor": None,             # state preprocessor class (see skrl.resources.preprocessors)
    "state_preprocessor_kwargs": {},        # state preprocessor's kwargs (e.g. {"size": env.observation_space})

    "random_timesteps": 0,          # random exploration steps
    "learning_starts": 0,           # learning starts after this many steps

    "update_interval": 1,           # agent update interval
    "target_update_interval": 10,   # target network update interval

    "exploration": {
        "initial_epsilon": 1.0,       # initial epsilon for epsilon-greedy exploration
        "final_epsilon": 0.05,        # final epsilon for epsilon-greedy exploration
        "timesteps": 1000,            # timesteps for epsilon-greedy decay
    },

    "rewards_shaper": None,         # rewards shaping function: Callable(reward, timestep, timesteps) -> reward

    "experiment": {
        "directory": "",            # experiment's parent directory
        "experiment_name": "",      # experiment name
        "write_interval": "auto",   # TensorBoard writing interval (timesteps)

        "checkpoint_interval": "auto",      # interval for checkpoints (timesteps)
        "store_separately": False,          # whether to store checkpoints separately

        "wandb": False,             # whether to use Weights & Biases
        "wandb_kwargs": {}          # wandb kwargs (see https://docs.wandb.ai/ref/python/init)
    }
}

Spaces

The implementation supports the following Gym spaces / Gymnasium spaces

Gym/Gymnasium spaces

Observation

Action

Discrete

\(\square\)

\(\blacksquare\)

MultiDiscrete

\(\square\)

\(\square\)

Box

\(\blacksquare\)

\(\square\)

Dict

\(\blacksquare\)

\(\square\)


Models

The implementation uses 2 deterministic function approximators. These function approximators (models) must be collected in a dictionary and passed to the constructor of the class under the argument models

Notation

Concept

Key

Input shape

Output shape

Type

\(Q_\phi(s, a)\)

Q-network

"q_network"

observation

action

Deterministic

\(Q_{\phi_{target}}(s, a)\)

Target Q-network

"target_q_network"

observation

action

Deterministic


Features

Support for advanced features is described in the next table

Feature

Support and remarks

    pytorch    

    jax    

Shared model

-

\(\square\)

\(\square\)

RNN support

-

\(\square\)

\(\square\)

Distributed

Single Program Multi Data (SPMD) multi-GPU

\(\blacksquare\)

\(\blacksquare\)


API (PyTorch)

skrl.agents.torch.dqn.DDQN_DEFAULT_CONFIG

alias of {‘batch_size’: 64, ‘discount_factor’: 0.99, ‘experiment’: {‘checkpoint_interval’: ‘auto’, ‘directory’: ‘’, ‘experiment_name’: ‘’, ‘store_separately’: False, ‘wandb’: False, ‘wandb_kwargs’: {}, ‘write_interval’: ‘auto’}, ‘exploration’: {‘final_epsilon’: 0.05, ‘initial_epsilon’: 1.0, ‘timesteps’: 1000}, ‘gradient_steps’: 1, ‘learning_rate’: 0.001, ‘learning_rate_scheduler’: None, ‘learning_rate_scheduler_kwargs’: {}, ‘learning_starts’: 0, ‘polyak’: 0.005, ‘random_timesteps’: 0, ‘rewards_shaper’: None, ‘state_preprocessor’: None, ‘state_preprocessor_kwargs’: {}, ‘target_update_interval’: 10, ‘update_interval’: 1}

class skrl.agents.torch.dqn.DDQN(models: Mapping[str, Model], memory: Memory | Tuple[Memory] | None = None, observation_space: int | Tuple[int] | gym.Space | gymnasium.Space | None = None, action_space: int | Tuple[int] | gym.Space | gymnasium.Space | None = None, device: str | torch.device | None = None, cfg: dict | None = None)

Bases: Agent

__init__(models: Mapping[str, Model], memory: Memory | Tuple[Memory] | None = None, observation_space: int | Tuple[int] | gym.Space | gymnasium.Space | None = None, action_space: int | Tuple[int] | gym.Space | gymnasium.Space | None = None, device: str | torch.device | None = None, cfg: dict | None = None) None

Double Deep Q-Network (DDQN)

https://ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AAAI/article/view/10295

Parameters:
  • models (dictionary of skrl.models.torch.Model) – Models used by the agent

  • memory (skrl.memory.torch.Memory, list of skrl.memory.torch.Memory or None) – Memory to storage the transitions. If it is a tuple, the first element will be used for training and for the rest only the environment transitions will be added

  • observation_space (int, tuple or list of int, gym.Space, gymnasium.Space or None, optional) – Observation/state space or shape (default: None)

  • action_space (int, tuple or list of int, gym.Space, gymnasium.Space or None, optional) – Action space or shape (default: None)

  • device (str or torch.device, optional) – Device on which a tensor/array is or will be allocated (default: None). If None, the device will be either "cuda" if available or "cpu"

  • cfg (dict) – Configuration dictionary

Raises:

KeyError – If the models dictionary is missing a required key

_update(timestep: int, timesteps: int) None

Algorithm’s main update step

Parameters:
  • timestep (int) – Current timestep

  • timesteps (int) – Number of timesteps

act(states: torch.Tensor, timestep: int, timesteps: int) torch.Tensor

Process the environment’s states to make a decision (actions) using the main policy

Parameters:
  • states (torch.Tensor) – Environment’s states

  • timestep (int) – Current timestep

  • timesteps (int) – Number of timesteps

Returns:

Actions

Return type:

torch.Tensor

init(trainer_cfg: Mapping[str, Any] | None = None) None

Initialize the agent

post_interaction(timestep: int, timesteps: int) None

Callback called after the interaction with the environment

Parameters:
  • timestep (int) – Current timestep

  • timesteps (int) – Number of timesteps

pre_interaction(timestep: int, timesteps: int) None

Callback called before the interaction with the environment

Parameters:
  • timestep (int) – Current timestep

  • timesteps (int) – Number of timesteps

record_transition(states: torch.Tensor, actions: torch.Tensor, rewards: torch.Tensor, next_states: torch.Tensor, terminated: torch.Tensor, truncated: torch.Tensor, infos: Any, timestep: int, timesteps: int) None

Record an environment transition in memory

Parameters:
  • states (torch.Tensor) – Observations/states of the environment used to make the decision

  • actions (torch.Tensor) – Actions taken by the agent

  • rewards (torch.Tensor) – Instant rewards achieved by the current actions

  • next_states (torch.Tensor) – Next observations/states of the environment

  • terminated (torch.Tensor) – Signals to indicate that episodes have terminated

  • truncated (torch.Tensor) – Signals to indicate that episodes have been truncated

  • infos (Any type supported by the environment) – Additional information about the environment

  • timestep (int) – Current timestep

  • timesteps (int) – Number of timesteps


API (JAX)

skrl.agents.jax.dqn.DDQN_DEFAULT_CONFIG

alias of {‘batch_size’: 64, ‘discount_factor’: 0.99, ‘experiment’: {‘checkpoint_interval’: ‘auto’, ‘directory’: ‘’, ‘experiment_name’: ‘’, ‘store_separately’: False, ‘wandb’: False, ‘wandb_kwargs’: {}, ‘write_interval’: ‘auto’}, ‘exploration’: {‘final_epsilon’: 0.05, ‘initial_epsilon’: 1.0, ‘timesteps’: 1000}, ‘gradient_steps’: 1, ‘learning_rate’: 0.001, ‘learning_rate_scheduler’: None, ‘learning_rate_scheduler_kwargs’: {}, ‘learning_starts’: 0, ‘polyak’: 0.005, ‘random_timesteps’: 0, ‘rewards_shaper’: None, ‘state_preprocessor’: None, ‘state_preprocessor_kwargs’: {}, ‘target_update_interval’: 10, ‘update_interval’: 1}

class skrl.agents.jax.dqn.DDQN(models: Mapping[str, Model], memory: Memory | Tuple[Memory] | None = None, observation_space: int | Tuple[int] | gym.Space | gymnasium.Space | None = None, action_space: int | Tuple[int] | gym.Space | gymnasium.Space | None = None, device: str | jax.Device | None = None, cfg: dict | None = None)

Bases: Agent

__init__(models: Mapping[str, Model], memory: Memory | Tuple[Memory] | None = None, observation_space: int | Tuple[int] | gym.Space | gymnasium.Space | None = None, action_space: int | Tuple[int] | gym.Space | gymnasium.Space | None = None, device: str | jax.Device | None = None, cfg: dict | None = None) None

Double Deep Q-Network (DDQN)

https://ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AAAI/article/view/10295

Parameters:
  • models (dictionary of skrl.models.jax.Model) – Models used by the agent

  • memory (skrl.memory.jax.Memory, list of skrl.memory.jax.Memory or None) – Memory to storage the transitions. If it is a tuple, the first element will be used for training and for the rest only the environment transitions will be added

  • observation_space (int, tuple or list of int, gym.Space, gymnasium.Space or None, optional) – Observation/state space or shape (default: None)

  • action_space (int, tuple or list of int, gym.Space, gymnasium.Space or None, optional) – Action space or shape (default: None)

  • device (str or jax.Device, optional) – Device on which a tensor/array is or will be allocated (default: None). If None, the device will be either "cuda" if available or "cpu"

  • cfg (dict) – Configuration dictionary

Raises:

KeyError – If the models dictionary is missing a required key

_update(timestep: int, timesteps: int) None

Algorithm’s main update step

Parameters:
  • timestep (int) – Current timestep

  • timesteps (int) – Number of timesteps

act(states: ndarray | jax.Array, timestep: int, timesteps: int) ndarray | jax.Array

Process the environment’s states to make a decision (actions) using the main policy

Parameters:
  • states (np.ndarray or jax.Array) – Environment’s states

  • timestep (int) – Current timestep

  • timesteps (int) – Number of timesteps

Returns:

Actions

Return type:

np.ndarray or jax.Array

init(trainer_cfg: Mapping[str, Any] | None = None) None

Initialize the agent

post_interaction(timestep: int, timesteps: int) None

Callback called after the interaction with the environment

Parameters:
  • timestep (int) – Current timestep

  • timesteps (int) – Number of timesteps

pre_interaction(timestep: int, timesteps: int) None

Callback called before the interaction with the environment

Parameters:
  • timestep (int) – Current timestep

  • timesteps (int) – Number of timesteps

record_transition(states: ndarray | jax.Array, actions: ndarray | jax.Array, rewards: ndarray | jax.Array, next_states: ndarray | jax.Array, terminated: ndarray | jax.Array, truncated: ndarray | jax.Array, infos: Any, timestep: int, timesteps: int) None

Record an environment transition in memory

Parameters:
  • states (np.ndarray or jax.Array) – Observations/states of the environment used to make the decision

  • actions (np.ndarray or jax.Array) – Actions taken by the agent

  • rewards (np.ndarray or jax.Array) – Instant rewards achieved by the current actions

  • next_states (np.ndarray or jax.Array) – Next observations/states of the environment

  • terminated (np.ndarray or jax.Array) – Signals to indicate that episodes have terminated

  • truncated (np.ndarray or jax.Array) – Signals to indicate that episodes have been truncated

  • infos (Any type supported by the environment) – Additional information about the environment

  • timestep (int) – Current timestep

  • timesteps (int) – Number of timesteps