It is known that Perceptual Aliasing may significantly diminish the effectiveness of reinforcement learning algorithms [ Whitehead and Ballard, 1991 ] . Perceptual aliasing occurs when multiple situations that are indistinguishable from immediate perceptual input require different responses from the system. For example, if a robot can only see forward, yet the presence of a battery charger behind it determines whether or not it should backup, immediate perception alone is insufficient for determining the most appropriate action. It is problematic since reinforcement algorithms typically learn a control policy from immediate perceptual input to the optimal choice of action. This paper introduces the predictive distinctions approach to compensate for perceptual aliasing caused from incomplete perception of the world. An additional component, a predictive model, is utilized to track aspects of the world that may not be visible at all times. In addition to the control policy, the model mus...

A mobile agent with the task to classify its sensor pattern has to cope with ambiguous information. Active recognition of three-dimensional objects involves the observer in a search for discriminative evidence, e.g., by change of its viewpoint. This paper defines the recognition process as a sequential decision problem with the objective to disambiguate initial object hypotheses. Reinforcement learning provides then an efficient method to autonomously develop near-optimal decision strategies in terms of sensorimotor mappings. The proposed system learns object models from visual appearance and uses a radial basis function (RBF) network for a probabilistic interpretation of the two-dimensional views. The information gain in fusing successive object hypotheses provides a utility measure to reinforce actions leading to discriminative viewpoints. The system is verified in experiments with 16 objects and two degrees of freedom in sensor motion. Crucial improvements in performance are gained...