Learning-Assisted Market-Based Optimization for Truck Task Scheduling

Action selection for an autonomous agent was studied within the confines of truck task scheduling. An experimental setup was established to compare a naive selection approach, a simple market-based optimization approach, and a learning-assisted market-based optimization over a series of scenarios with varying complexity. For sufficiently complex scenarios, the results showed that learning was able to improve the performance of the truck by delaying delivery to a given site until it was the most protable action available. This research adds to the existing autonomous planning research by demonstrating a novel approach for planning under resource constraints. This approach improves upon an existing market-based optimization technique through the use of on-line reinforcement learning for market adjustment.