Residual Policy Learning for Perceptive Quadruped Control Using Differentiable Simulation

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Luo, Jing Yuan, Song, Yunlong, Klemm, Victor, Shi, Fan, Scaramuzza, Davide, Hutter, Marco
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Luo, Jing Yuan
Song, Yunlong
Klemm, Victor
Shi, Fan
Scaramuzza, Davide
Hutter, Marco
author_facet Luo, Jing Yuan
Song, Yunlong
Klemm, Victor
Shi, Fan
Scaramuzza, Davide
Hutter, Marco
contents First-order Policy Gradient (FoPG) algorithms such as Backpropagation through Time and Analytical Policy Gradients leverage local simulation physics to accelerate policy search, significantly improving sample efficiency in robot control compared to standard model-free reinforcement learning. However, FoPG algorithms can exhibit poor learning dynamics in contact-rich tasks like locomotion. Previous approaches address this issue by alleviating contact dynamics via algorithmic or simulation innovations. In contrast, we propose guiding the policy search by learning a residual over a simple baseline policy. For quadruped locomotion, we find that the role of residual policy learning in FoPG-based training (FoPG RPL) is primarily to improve asymptotic rewards, compared to improving sample efficiency for model-free RL. Additionally, we provide insights on applying FoPG's to pixel-based local navigation, training a point-mass robot to convergence within seconds. Finally, we showcase the versatility of FoPG RPL by using it to train locomotion and perceptive navigation end-to-end on a quadruped in minutes.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_03076
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Residual Policy Learning for Perceptive Quadruped Control Using Differentiable Simulation
Luo, Jing Yuan
Song, Yunlong
Klemm, Victor
Shi, Fan
Scaramuzza, Davide
Hutter, Marco
Robotics
First-order Policy Gradient (FoPG) algorithms such as Backpropagation through Time and Analytical Policy Gradients leverage local simulation physics to accelerate policy search, significantly improving sample efficiency in robot control compared to standard model-free reinforcement learning. However, FoPG algorithms can exhibit poor learning dynamics in contact-rich tasks like locomotion. Previous approaches address this issue by alleviating contact dynamics via algorithmic or simulation innovations. In contrast, we propose guiding the policy search by learning a residual over a simple baseline policy. For quadruped locomotion, we find that the role of residual policy learning in FoPG-based training (FoPG RPL) is primarily to improve asymptotic rewards, compared to improving sample efficiency for model-free RL. Additionally, we provide insights on applying FoPG's to pixel-based local navigation, training a point-mass robot to convergence within seconds. Finally, we showcase the versatility of FoPG RPL by using it to train locomotion and perceptive navigation end-to-end on a quadruped in minutes.
title Residual Policy Learning for Perceptive Quadruped Control Using Differentiable Simulation
topic Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.03076