Getting involved in the competition is easy. Getting the software installed, and running your first experiment with one of the sample agents takes just a few minutes.

• Step 1: Download the competition software
• Step 2: Pick your domain
• Step 3: Run an experiment using a sample agent.
• Step 4: Modify the sample agent, or create your own agent from scratch, and register to compete for fame, glory, and cool prizes.

More Information

The competition software is based on the RL-GLUE and RL-VIZ libraries. The RL-GLUE library is a Java application that provides a framework for running reinforcement learning experiments. RL-GLUE is designed to allow agents and environments to easily be swapped in and out in a plug-and-play manner. RL-GLUE allows for agents and environments to be implemented in many different languages, such as Java, C++, Python, LISP, and Matlab. RL-VIZ is a toolkit for visualizing the experiments. This allows for monitoring of the progress of agents, as well as an entertaining and useful view of the interaction.

The software is designed to be easy to use, and in that spirit we have included sample agents for each of the domains. This means that getting started is as easy as downloading the software, compiling the sample agents, and then running a sample experiments. The sample agents are well commented, and provide an excellent starting point for implementing more complex algorithms. For more information on the software, click here.

For Course Instructors

Looking for an interesting, challenging, and exciting project for your course? The reinforcement learning competition software allows for you to easily incorporate a practical programming project into your curriculum. The competition software makes it easy for students to create learning agents and run them on a set of interesting problems. While we encourage all students to participate in the final competition, it is up to the individual whether or not they want to submit their results. This allows instructors to run their own competitions for their courses, without discouraging students who do not want to compete in the public competition.

Incorporating the RL Competition into your course is simple. Students can download the software, create their own agents, and then turn them in. Since the software is designed to allow agents to easily be swapped out, the instructor can quickly and easily test all of the students' submissions. In addition, the visualization software can allow for a very entertaining evaluation.