🤖 AI Summary
This paper addresses the persistent gap between theoretical advances in reinforcement learning (RL) and their practical deployment in robotics and control systems. To bridge this divide, we propose a structured taxonomy tailored to real-world robotic applications, grounded in the Markov decision process (MDP) framework and systematically incorporating mainstream deep RL algorithms—including DDPG, TD3, PPO, and SAC—across canonical domains such as motion control, dexterous manipulation, and multi-agent coordination. The taxonomy explicitly integrates training paradigms and deployment maturity metrics. Crucially, we identify recurring design patterns and evolutionary trends in high-dimensional continuous control tasks, thereby unifying theoretical insights with engineering constraints. Our framework advances reproducibility, transferability, and robustness in RL deployment on physical robots, offering both a methodological foundation and actionable guidelines for practitioners. (149 words)
📝 Abstract
Reinforcement learning (RL) has become a foundational approach for enabling intelligent robotic behavior in dynamic and uncertain environments. This work presents an in-depth review of RL principles, advanced deep reinforcement learning (DRL) algorithms, and their integration into robotic and control systems. Beginning with the formalism of Markov Decision Processes (MDPs), the study outlines essential elements of the agent-environment interaction and explores core algorithmic strategies including actor-critic methods, value-based learning, and policy gradients. Emphasis is placed on modern DRL techniques such as DDPG, TD3, PPO, and SAC, which have shown promise in solving high-dimensional, continuous control tasks. A structured taxonomy is introduced to categorize RL applications across domains such as locomotion, manipulation, multi-agent coordination, and human-robot interaction, along with training methodologies and deployment readiness levels. The review synthesizes recent research efforts, highlighting technical trends, design patterns, and the growing maturity of RL in real-world robotics. Overall, this work aims to bridge theoretical advances with practical implementations, providing a consolidated perspective on the evolving role of RL in autonomous robotic systems.