Paper ID: 2211.02147

A Survey on Reinforcement Learning in Aviation Applications

Pouria Razzaghi, Amin Tabrizian, Wei Guo, Shulu Chen, Abenezer Taye, Ellis Thompson, Alexis Bregeon, Ali Baheri, Peng Wei

Compared with model-based control and optimization methods, reinforcement learning (RL) provides a data-driven, learning-based framework to formulate and solve sequential decision-making problems. The RL framework has become promising due to largely improved data availability and computing power in the aviation industry. Many aviation-based applications can be formulated or treated as sequential decision-making problems. Some of them are offline planning problems, while others need to be solved online and are safety-critical. In this survey paper, we first describe standard RL formulations and solutions. Then we survey the landscape of existing RL-based applications in aviation. Finally, we summarize the paper, identify the technical gaps, and suggest future directions of RL research in aviation.

Submitted: Nov 3, 2022