Catching Spinning Table Tennis Balls in Simulation with End-to-End Curriculum Reinforcement Learning

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Hu, Xiaoyi, Mao, Yue, Wang, Gang, Li, Qingdu, Zhang, Jianwei, Ji, Yunfeng
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Hu, Xiaoyi
Mao, Yue
Wang, Gang
Li, Qingdu
Zhang, Jianwei
Ji, Yunfeng
author_facet Hu, Xiaoyi
Mao, Yue
Wang, Gang
Li, Qingdu
Zhang, Jianwei
Ji, Yunfeng
contents The game of table tennis is renowned for its extremely high spin rate, but most table tennis robots today struggle to handle balls with such rapid spin. To address this issue, we have contributed a series of methods, including: 1. Curriculum Reinforcement Learning (RL): This method helps the table tennis robot learn to play table tennis progressively from easy to difficult tasks. 2. Analysis of Spinning Table Tennis Ball Collisions: We have conducted a physics-based analysis to generate more realistic trajectories of spinning table tennis balls after collision. 3. Definition of Trajectory States: The definition of trajectory states aids in setting up the reward function. 4. Selection of Valid Rally Trajectories: We have introduced a valid rally trajectory selection scheme to ensure that the robot's training is not influenced by abnormal trajectories. 5. Reality-to-Simulation (Real2Sim) Transfer: This scheme is employed to validate the trained robot's ability to handle spinning balls in real-world scenarios. With Real2Sim, the deployment costs for robotic reinforcement learning can be further reduced. Moreover, the trajectory-state-based reward function is not limited to table tennis robots; it can be generalized to a wide range of cyclical tasks. To validate our robot's ability to handle spinning balls, the Real2Sim experiments were conducted. For the specific video link of the experiment, please refer to the supplementary materials.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_01251
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Catching Spinning Table Tennis Balls in Simulation with End-to-End Curriculum Reinforcement Learning
Hu, Xiaoyi
Mao, Yue
Wang, Gang
Li, Qingdu
Zhang, Jianwei
Ji, Yunfeng
Robotics
The game of table tennis is renowned for its extremely high spin rate, but most table tennis robots today struggle to handle balls with such rapid spin. To address this issue, we have contributed a series of methods, including: 1. Curriculum Reinforcement Learning (RL): This method helps the table tennis robot learn to play table tennis progressively from easy to difficult tasks. 2. Analysis of Spinning Table Tennis Ball Collisions: We have conducted a physics-based analysis to generate more realistic trajectories of spinning table tennis balls after collision. 3. Definition of Trajectory States: The definition of trajectory states aids in setting up the reward function. 4. Selection of Valid Rally Trajectories: We have introduced a valid rally trajectory selection scheme to ensure that the robot's training is not influenced by abnormal trajectories. 5. Reality-to-Simulation (Real2Sim) Transfer: This scheme is employed to validate the trained robot's ability to handle spinning balls in real-world scenarios. With Real2Sim, the deployment costs for robotic reinforcement learning can be further reduced. Moreover, the trajectory-state-based reward function is not limited to table tennis robots; it can be generalized to a wide range of cyclical tasks. To validate our robot's ability to handle spinning balls, the Real2Sim experiments were conducted. For the specific video link of the experiment, please refer to the supplementary materials.
title Catching Spinning Table Tennis Balls in Simulation with End-to-End Curriculum Reinforcement Learning
topic Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.01251