Robust Inverse Reinforcement Learning under Transition Dynamics Mismatch

We study the inverse reinforcement learning (IRL) problem under the transition dynamics mismatch between the expert and the learner. In particular, we consider the Maximum Causal Entropy (MCE) IRL learner model and provide an upper bound on the learner's performance degradation based on the $\ell_1$-distance between the two transition dynamics of the expert and the learner. Then, by leveraging insights from the Robust RL literature, we propose a robust MCE IRL algorithm, which is a principled approach to help with this mismatch issue. Finally, we empirically demonstrate the stable performance of our algorithm compared to the standard MCE IRL algorithm under transition mismatches in finite MDP problems.