Robotics paper index

CAST: Alternating State-Value Targets and Expanded Policy Gradients for Model-Based Reinforcement Learning

2026-09-08 · arXiv: 2609.08853

One-line summary

A robotics research paper on CAST: Alternating State-Value Targets and Expanded Policy Gradients for Model-Based Reinforcement Learning.

Engineering notes

Engineering notes will be added by the Robot Papers editorial team.

Chinese explanation / 中文解读

中文解读待补充:本站会优先为 VLA、具身智能、人形机器人控制、机器人操作等高价值论文补充中文说明。

Original abstract

Model-based reinforcement learning (MBRL) is a family of RL methods that learn a model of the environment and use it for action selection, making it well suited to robotics due to its sample efficiency. Combining learned models with online planning can further improve action selection, as the planner can exploit the model to find better actions than the learned policy alone. Recent methods combining learned policies with online planning typically learn the value of the policy rather than the stronger planner-guided behavior. We present CAST (Critic with Alternating State-value Target), which uses planner-guided behavior to improve value learning while regularizing the value estimate with the current policy. CAST replaces the action-value critic with a state-value critic, trained using a target that combines a real planner-guided transition and an imagined transition under the current policy. The resulting value function corresponds to an alternating process between planner-guided behavior and the current policy, allowing it to benefit from the stronger planner behavior while being regularised by the policy being learned. We evaluate CAST on the DeepMind Control and HumanoidBench Suites against several state-of-the-art methods, and demonstrate successful transfer to a physical Unitree Go2 quadruped performing a dynamic handstand.

5.0Engineering value
7.0Research novelty
4.0Business relevance

Links and sources

Need this topic turned into a technical roadmap?

Robot Papers can prepare a custom robotics literature review, code map, dataset map, and B2B technology assessment.

Request B2B research

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts on this paper.
Login or register to leave a comment