A demonstration on the construction of modular neural network using elevator system that operates based on reinforcement learning

We study how neural networks can perform the task of elevator dispatching of commuters from their origins to their destinations. Instead of applying a neural network in the conventional way, we construct a specific neural network architecture that optimizes the commuters’ traveling time after taking into account the domain knowledge and the efficacy of potential future actions. The constructed architecture is modular with building blocks of neuronal structure that serve specified functional roles. By relaxing the weights and then training this network via reinforcement learning, we show that it outperforms an agent that implements the standard elevator algorithm. More remarkably, we observe the spontaneous emergence of functional modules within the structure of the network in consequence of the action sequences experienced during training. This behavioral feature of the neural network makes it less of a black box, with specific aspects of its functions being explicitly discernible from its network connections.