Positive reinforcement teaches robot to learn faster.
With a training technique commonly used to teach dogs to sit and stay, Johns Hopkins University computer scientists showed a robot how to teach itself several new tricks, including stacking blocks. With the method, the robot, named Spot, was able to learn in days what typically takes a month.
By using positive reinforcement, an approach familiar to anyone who's used treats to change a dog's behavior, the team dramatically improved the robot's skills and did it quickly enough to make training robots for real-world work a more feasible enterprise. The findings are newly published in a paper called, "Good Robot!"
via Whisker Therapy