Policy

Definition

A function that maps what the robot perceives to the action it should take. It can be a simple table or a large neural network that receives images and an instruction in natural language. Training a robot by imitation or by reinforcement amounts to learning its policy.

Checked on 28 September 2026 against the references below.

Related terms

• Reinforcement learning
• Imitation learning
• VLA (vision-language-action model)

References

• Sutton and Barto, Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction, § 1.3 Elements of Reinforcement Learning