Optimization For Learning And Control

Optimization for Learning and Control Comprehensive resource providing a masters’ level introduction to optimization theory and algorithms for learning and control Optimization for Learning and Control describes how optimization is used in these domains, giving a thorough introduction to both unsupervised learning, supervised learning, and reinforcement learning, with an emphasis on optimization methods for large-scale learning and control problems. Several applications areas are also discussed, including signal processing, system identification, optimal control, and machine learning. Today, most of the material on the optimization aspects of deep learning that is accessible for students at a Masters’ level is focused on surface-level computer programming; deeper knowledge about the optimization methods and the trade-offs that are behind these methods is not provided. The objective of this book is to make this scattered knowledge, currently mainly available in publications in academic journals, accessible for Masters’ students in a coherent way. The focus is on basic algorithmic principles and trade-offs. Optimization for Learning and Control covers sample topics such as: Optimization theory and optimization methods, covering classes of optimization problems like least squares problems, quadratic problems, conic optimization problems and rank optimization. First-order methods, second-order methods, variable metric methods, and methods for nonlinear least squares problems. Stochastic optimization methods, augmented Lagrangian methods, interior-point methods, and conic optimization methods. Dynamic programming for solving optimal control problems and its generalization to reinforcement learning. How optimization theory is used to develop theory and tools of statistics and learning, e.g., the maximum likelihood method, expectation maximization, k-means clustering, and support vector machines. How calculus of variations is used in optimal control and for deriving the family of exponential distributions. Optimization for Learning and Control is an ideal resource on the subject for scientists and engineers learning about which optimization methods are useful for learning and control problems; the text will also appeal to industry professionals using machine learning for different practical applications.

This book develops a coherent and quite general theoretical approach to algorithm design for iterative learning control based on the use of operator representations and quadratic optimization concepts including the related ideas of inverse model control and gradient-based design. Using detailed examples taken from linear, discrete and continuous-time systems, the author gives the reader access to theories based on either signal or parameter optimization. Although the two approaches are shown to be related in a formal mathematical sense, the text presents them separately as their relevant algorithm design issues are distinct and give rise to different performance capabilities. Together with algorithm design, the text demonstrates the underlying robustness of the paradigm and also includes new control laws that are capable of incorporating input and output constraints, enable the algorithm to reconfigure systematically in order to meet the requirements of different reference and auxiliary signals and also to support new properties such as spectral annihilation. Iterative Learning Control will interest academics and graduate students working in control who will find it a useful reference to the current status of a powerful and increasingly popular method of control. The depth of background theory and links to practical systems will be of use to engineers responsible for precision repetitive processes.

Changsheng Hua proposes two approaches, an input/output recovery approach and a performance index-based approach for robustness and performance optimization of feedback control systems. For their data-driven implementation in deterministic and stochastic systems, the author develops Q-learning and natural actor-critic (NAC) methods, respectively. Their effectiveness has been demonstrated by an experimental study on a brushless direct current motor test rig. The author: Changsheng Hua received the Ph.D. degree at the Institute of Automatic Control and Complex Systems (AKS), University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, in 2020. His research interests include model-based and data-driven fault diagnosis and fault-tolerant techniques.

REINFORCEMENT LEARNING AND STOCHASTIC OPTIMIZATION Clearing the jungle of stochastic optimization Sequential decision problems, which consist of “decision, information, decision, information,” are ubiquitous, spanning virtually every human activity ranging from business applications, health (personal and public health, and medical decision making), energy, the sciences, all fields of engineering, finance, and e-commerce. The diversity of applications attracted the attention of at least 15 distinct fields of research, using eight distinct notational systems which produced a vast array of analytical tools. A byproduct is that powerful tools developed in one community may be unknown to other communities. Reinforcement Learning and Stochastic Optimization offers a single canonical framework that can model any sequential decision problem using five core components: state variables, decision variables, exogenous information variables, transition function, and objective function. This book highlights twelve types of uncertainty that might enter any model and pulls together the diverse set of methods for making decisions, known as policies, into four fundamental classes that span every method suggested in the academic literature or used in practice. Reinforcement Learning and Stochastic Optimization is the first book to provide a balanced treatment of the different methods for modeling and solving sequential decision problems, following the style used by most books on machine learning, optimization, and simulation. The presentation is designed for readers with a course in probability and statistics, and an interest in modeling and applications. Linear programming is occasionally used for specific problem classes. The book is designed for readers who are new to the field, as well as those with some background in optimization under uncertainty. Throughout this book, readers will find references to over 100 different applications, spanning pure learning problems, dynamic resource allocation problems, general state-dependent problems, and hybrid learning/resource allocation problems such as those that arose in the COVID pandemic. There are 370 exercises, organized into seven groups, ranging from review questions, modeling, computation, problem solving, theory, programming exercises and a “diary problem” that a reader chooses at the beginning of the book, and which is used as a basis for questions throughout the rest of the book.

Optimization for Learning and Control Comprehensive resource providing a masters’ level introduction to optimization theory and algorithms for learning and control Optimization for Learning and Control describes how optimization is used in these domains, giving a thorough introduction to both unsupervised learning, supervised learning, and reinforcement learning, with an emphasis on optimization methods for large-scale learning and control problems. Several applications areas are also discussed, including signal processing, system identification, optimal control, and machine learning. Today, most of the material on the optimization aspects of deep learning that is accessible for students at a Masters’ level is focused on surface-level computer programming; deeper knowledge about the optimization methods and the trade-offs that are behind these methods is not provided. The objective of this book is to make this scattered knowledge, currently mainly available in publications in academic journals, accessible for Masters’ students in a coherent way. The focus is on basic algorithmic principles and trade-offs. Optimization for Learning and Control covers sample topics such as: Optimization theory and optimization methods, covering classes of optimization problems like least squares problems, quadratic problems, conic optimization problems and rank optimization. First-order methods, second-order methods, variable metric methods, and methods for nonlinear least squares problems. Stochastic optimization methods, augmented Lagrangian methods, interior-point methods, and conic optimization methods. Dynamic programming for solving optimal control problems and its generalization to reinforcement learning. How optimization theory is used to develop theory and tools of statistics and learning, e.g., the maximum likelihood method, expectation maximization, k-means clustering, and support vector machines. How calculus of variations is used in optimal control and for deriving the family of exponential distributions. Optimization for Learning and Control is an ideal resource on the subject for scientists and engineers learning about which optimization methods are useful for learning and control problems; the text will also appeal to industry professionals using machine learning for different practical applications.

This is the first textbook on a generally applicable control strategy for turbulence and other complex nonlinear systems. The approach of the book employs powerful methods of machine learning for optimal nonlinear control laws. This machine learning control (MLC) is motivated and detailed in Chapters 1 and 2. In Chapter 3, methods of linear control theory are reviewed. In Chapter 4, MLC is shown to reproduce known optimal control laws for linear dynamics (LQR, LQG). In Chapter 5, MLC detects and exploits a strongly nonlinear actuation mechanism of a low-dimensional dynamical system when linear control methods are shown to fail. Experimental control demonstrations from a laminar shear-layer to turbulent boundary-layers are reviewed in Chapter 6, followed by general good practices for experiments in Chapter 7. The book concludes with an outlook on the vast future applications of MLC in Chapter 8. Matlab codes are provided for easy reproducibility of the presented results. The book includes interviews with leading researchers in turbulence control (S. Bagheri, B. Batten, M. Glauser, D. Williams) and machine learning (M. Schoenauer) for a broader perspective. All chapters have exercises and supplemental videos will be available through YouTube.

This handbook presents state-of-the-art research in reinforcement learning, focusing on its applications in the control and game theory of dynamic systems and future directions for related research and technology. The contributions gathered in this book deal with challenges faced when using learning and adaptation methods to solve academic and industrial problems, such as optimization in dynamic environments with single and multiple agents, convergence and performance analysis, and online implementation. They explore means by which these difficulties can be solved, and cover a wide range of related topics including: deep learning; artificial intelligence; applications of game theory; mixed modality learning; and multi-agent reinforcement learning. Practicing engineers and scholars in the field of machine learning, game theory, and autonomous control will find the Handbook of Reinforcement Learning and Control to be thought-provoking, instructive and informative.

Distributed Optimization and Learning: A Control-Theoretic Perspective illustrates the underlying principles of distributed optimization and learning. The book presents a systematic and self-contained description of distributed optimization and learning algorithms from a control-theoretic perspective. It focuses on exploring control-theoretic approaches and how those approaches can be utilized to solve distributed optimization and learning problems over network-connected, multi-agent systems. As there are strong links between optimization and learning, this book provides a unified platform for understanding distributed optimization and learning algorithms for different purposes.