# Deep Gaussian Covariance Network with Trajectory Sampling for Data-Efficient Policy Search

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.15908 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.15908/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Latent dynamics models and model-based RL, one of 11 directions in World models.
- Builds on 11 of its 21 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 23 Mar 2024.

## Placed in

- World models / [Latent dynamics models and model-based RL](https://mlsanity.com/wm/latent-dynamics-models-and-model-based-rl/)
- Deep reinforcement learning methods / [RL theory and sample complexity](https://mlsanity.com/deeprl/rl-theory-and-sample-complexity/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 11 of 11)

- [Adam: A Method for Stochastic Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.6980/) (2014)
- [Proximal Policy Optimization Algorithms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1707.06347/) (2017)
- [Simple and Scalable Predictive Uncertainty Estimation using Deep Ensembles](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1612.01474/) (2016)
- [OpenAI Gym](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1606.01540/) (2016)
- [Recurrent World Models Facilitate Policy Evolution](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1809.01999/) (2018)
- [Deep Reinforcement Learning in a Handful of Trials using Probabilistic Dynamics Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1805.12114/) (2018)
- [Model-Based Reinforcement Learning for Atari](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1903.00374/) (2019)
- [GPflow: A Gaussian process library using TensorFlow](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1610.08733/) (2016)
- [Gaussian Processes for Data-Efficient Learning in Robotics and Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1502.02860/) (2015)
- [Data-Efficient Reinforcement Learning with Probabilistic Model Predictive Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.06491/) (2017)
- [Sample-efficient reinforcement learning using deep Gaussian processes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.01226/) (2020)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Probabilistic world models increase data efficiency of model-based reinforcement learning (MBRL) by guiding the policy with their epistemic uncertainty to improve exploration and acquire new samples. Moreover, the uncertainty-aware learning procedures in probabilistic approaches lead to robust policies that are less sensitive to noisy observations compared to uncertainty unaware solutions. We propose to combine trajectory sampling and deep Gaussian covariance network (DGCN) for a data-efficient solution to MBRL problems in an optimal control setting. We compare trajectory sampling with density-based approximation for uncertainty propagation using three different probabilistic world models; Gaussian processes, Bayesian neural networks, and DGCNs. We provide empirical evidence using four different well-known test environments, that our method improves the sample-efficiency over other combinations of uncertainty propagation methods and probabilistic models. During our tests, we place particular emphasis on the robustness of the learned policies with respect to noisy initial states.