Data-enabled Policy Optimization for the Linear Quadratic Regulator

Abstract: Policy optimization (PO), an essential approach of reinforcement learning for a broad range of system classes, requires significantly more system data than indirect (identification-followed-by-control) methods or behavioral-based direct methods even in the simplest linear quadratic regulator (LQR) problem. In this paper, we take an initial step towards bridging this gap by proposing the data-enabled policy optimization (DeePO) method, which requires only a finite number of sufficiently exciting data to iteratively solve the LQR problem via PO. Based on a data-driven closed-loop parameterization, we are able to directly compute the policy gradient from a batch of persistently exciting data. Next, we show that the nonconvex PO problem satisfies a projected gradient dominance property by relating it to an equivalent convex program, leading to the global convergence of DeePO. Moreover, we apply regularization methods to enhance certainty-equivalence and robustness of the resulting controller and show an implicit regularization property. Finally, we perform simulations to validate our results.