AutoREC: A software platform for developing reinforcement learning agents for equivalent circuit model generation from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy data

arXiv cs.LG / 5/1/2026

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Key Points

  • The paper presents AutoREC, an open-source Python platform that uses reinforcement learning to automatically generate equivalent circuit models (ECMs) from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) data.
  • It reframes ECM construction as a Markov Decision Process and applies a Double Deep Q-Network with prioritized experience replay and a dead-loop mitigation strategy to navigate a complex circuit-design action space.
  • Experiments show the trained agent exceeds 99.6% success on synthetic datasets and generalizes well to unseen experimental EIS data across multiple electrochemical applications.
  • The authors discuss both the strengths and current limitations of the approach and suggest strategies for improving future agent designs.
  • Overall, AutoREC is positioned as a data-driven, adaptive ECM-generation tool that could be integrated into autonomous electrochemical workflows such as self-driving labs.

Abstract

This paper introduces AutoREC, an open-source Python package for developing reinforcement learning (RL) agents to automatically generate equivalent circuit models (ECMs) from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) data. While ECMs are a standard framework for interpreting EIS data, traditional identification is typically based on manual trial-and-error, which requires domain experts and limits scalability, particularly in autonomous experimental pipelines such as self-driving laboratories. AutoREC addresses this challenge by formulating ECM construction as a sequential decision-making problem within a Markov Decision Process framework. It implements a Double Deep Q-Network with prioritized experience replay, along with a dedicated dead-loop mitigation strategy, to efficiently explore a complex action space for circuit generation. To demonstrate the capabilities of the platform, we trained an RL agent using AutoREC and evaluated its strengths and limitations across diverse datasets, while also discussing possible strategies to mitigate these limitations in future agent designs. The trained agent achieved a success rate exceeding 99.6\% on synthetic datasets and demonstrated strong generalization to unseen experimental EIS data from batteries, corrosion, oxygen evolution reaction, and CO_2 reduction systems. These results position AutoREC as a promising platform for adaptive and data-driven ECM generation, with potential for integration into automated electrochemical workflows.