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research article

CPG-RL: Learning Central Pattern Generators for Quadruped Locomotion

Bellegarda, Guillaume  
•
Ijspeert, Auke  
October 1, 2022
Ieee Robotics And Automation Letters

In this letter, we present a method for integrating central pattern generators (CPGs), i.e. systems of coupled oscillators, into the deep reinforcement learning (DRL) framework to produce robust and omnidirectional quadruped locomotion. The agent learns to directly modulate the intrinsic oscillator setpoints (amplitude and frequency) and coordinate rhythmic behavior among different oscillators. This approach also allows the use of DRL to explore questions related to neuroscience, namely the role of descending pathways, interoscillator couplings, and sensory feedback in gait generation. We train our policies in simulation and perform a sim-to-real transfer to the Unitree A1 quadruped, where we observe robust behavior to disturbances unseen during training, most notably to a dynamically added 13.75 kg load representing 115% of the nominal quadruped mass. We test several different observation spaces based on proprioceptive sensing and show that our framework is deployable with no domain randomization and very little feedback, where along with the oscillator states, it is possible to provide only contact booleans in the observation space.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1109/LRA.2022.3218167
Web of Science ID

WOS:000886312200010

Author(s)
Bellegarda, Guillaume  
Ijspeert, Auke  
Date Issued

2022-10-01

Publisher

IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC

Published in
Ieee Robotics And Automation Letters
Volume

7

Issue

4

Start page

12547

End page

12554

Subjects

Robotics

•

bioinspired robot learning

•

legged robots

•

machine learning for robot control

•

walking

•

robots

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
BIOROB  
Available on Infoscience
December 5, 2022
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/192906
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