Goal-based Self-Adaptive Generative Adversarial Imitation Learning (Goal-SAGAIL) for Multi-goal Robotic Manipulation Tasks

Abstract: Reinforcement learning for multi-goal robot manipulation tasks poses significant challenges due to the diversity and complexity of the goal space. Techniques such as Hindsight Experience Replay (HER) have been introduced to improve learning efficiency for such tasks. More recently, researchers have combined HER with advanced imitation learning methods such as Generative Adversarial Imitation Learning (GAIL) to integrate demonstration data and accelerate training speed. However, demonstration data often fails to provide enough coverage for the goal space, especially when acquired from human teleoperation. This biases the learning-from-demonstration process toward mastering easier sub-tasks instead of tackling the more challenging ones. In this work, we present Goal-based Self-Adaptive Generative Adversarial Imitation Learning (Goal-SAGAIL), a novel framework specifically designed for multi-goal robot manipulation tasks. By integrating self-adaptive learning principles with goal-conditioned GAIL, our approach enhances imitation learning efficiency, even when limited, suboptimal demonstrations are available. Experimental results validate that our method significantly improves learning efficiency across various multi-goal manipulation scenarios -- including complex in-hand manipulation tasks -- using suboptimal demonstrations provided by both simulation and human experts.