Q-Learning is a popular reinforcement learning algorithm that enables an agent to learn through trial and error. It is based on the concept of estimating the value of each action-state pair, which is represented by a Q-value.
The Q-value represents the expected future reward an agent will receive by taking a specific action in a particular state. The goal of Q-Learning is to find the optimal policy, i.e., the sequence of actions that maximizes the cumulative reward.
Let's consider a simple example of a robot navigating a gridworld. The robot moves through different states (grid cells) and takes actions (e.g., moving up, down, left, or right) to reach a goal state while avoiding obstacles. During the learning process, the agent updates the Q-values based on the rewards received and uses the updated values to make decisions about which actions to take in different states.
Q-Learning follows the Bellman equation to update the Q-values. It uses a learning rate (alpha) and a discount factor (gamma) to control the balance between exploring new actions and exploiting the learned knowledge.
Remember, practice makes perfect! Keep exploring and experimenting with Q-Learning to master this powerful algorithm.