Reservoir Predictive Path Integral Control for Unknown Nonlinear Dynamics

Abstract: Neural networks capable of approximating complex nonlinearities have found extensive application in data-driven control of nonlinear dynamical systems. However, fast online identification and control of unknown dynamics remain central challenges. This paper integrates echo-state networks (ESNs) -- reservoir computing models implemented with recurrent neural networks -- and model predictive path integral (MPPI) control -- sampling-based variants of model predictive control -- to meet these challenges. The proposed reservoir predictive path integral (RPPI) enables fast learning of nonlinear dynamics with ESN and exploits the learned nonlinearities directly in parallelized MPPI control computation without linearization approximations. The framework is further extended to uncertainty-aware RPPI (URPPI), which leverages ESN uncertainty to balance exploration and exploitation: exploratory inputs dominate during early learning, while exploitative inputs prevail as model confidence grows. Experiments on controlling the Duffing oscillator and four-tank systems demonstrate that URPPI improves control performance, reducing control costs by up to 60% compared to traditional quadratic programming-based model predictive control methods.