arXiv:2603.01741cs.LGcs.AI2026-03

通过约束策略间差异,提升大规模强化学习的探索效率与稳定性。

Rethinking Policy Diversity in Ensemble Policy Gradient in Large-Scale Reinforcement Learning

  • 用KL约束调控多策略间的多样性,避免过度探索。
  • 在复杂操作任务中,样本效率和最终性能优于SAPG等基线方法。
  • 发现跟随策略会自然围绕主策略分布,形成有序探索结构。

将强化学习扩展到数万并行环境时,单一策略的探索能力受限。基于集成的策略梯度方法通过多个策略收集多样化样本以促进探索,但盲目扩大探索空间未必提升学习效果,反而可能降低探索质量或影响训练稳定性。本文从理论上分析了策略间多样性对学习效率的影响,提出耦合策略优化(Coupled Policy Optimization),通过策略间的KL约束来调控多样性。该方法在多个任务上显著优于SAPG、PBT和PPO等强基线,包括高难度灵巧操作任务,在样本效率和最终性能上均有提升。训练过程中的分析显示,跟随策略自然聚集在主策略周围,展现出结构化且高效的探索行为。结果表明,在合理调控下的多样化探索是实现稳定高效学习的关键。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Scaling reinforcement learning to tens of thousands of parallel environments requires overcoming the limited exploration capacity of a single policy. Ensemble-based policy gradient methods, which employ multiple policies to collect diverse samples, have recently been proposed to promote exploration. However, merely broadening the exploration space does not always enhance learning capability, since excessive exploration can reduce exploration quality or compromise training stability. In this work, we theoretically analyze the impact of inter-policy diversity on learning efficiency in policy ensembles, and propose Coupled Policy Optimization which regulates diversity through KL constraints between policies. The proposed method enables effective exploration and outperforms strong baselines such as SAPG, PBT, and PPO across multiple tasks, including challenging dexterous manipulation, in terms of both sample efficiency and final performance. Furthermore, analysis of policy diversity and effective sample size during training reveals that follower policies naturally distribute around the leader, demonstrating the emergence of structured and efficient exploratory behavior. Our results indicate that diverse exploration under appropriate regulation is key to achieving stable and sample-efficient learning in ensemble policy gradient methods. Project page at https://naoki04.github.io/paper-cpo/ .

强化学习策略集成探索效率多样性调控

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