SAC-Loco: Safe and Adjustable Compliant Quadrupedal Locomotion

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Zhang, Aoqian, Zhuang, Zixuan, Wang, Chunzheng, Ge, Shuzhi Sam, Shi, Fan, Xiang, Cheng
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Zhang, Aoqian
Zhuang, Zixuan
Wang, Chunzheng
Ge, Shuzhi Sam
Shi, Fan
Xiang, Cheng
author_facet Zhang, Aoqian
Zhuang, Zixuan
Wang, Chunzheng
Ge, Shuzhi Sam
Shi, Fan
Xiang, Cheng
contents Quadruped robots are designed to achieve agile and robust locomotion by drawing inspiration from legged animals. However, most existing control methods for quadruped robots lack a key capacity observed in animals: the ability to exhibit diverse compliance behaviors while ensuring stability when experiencing external forces. In particular, achieving adjustable compliance while maintaining robust safety under force disturbances remains a significant challenge. In this work, we propose a safety aware compliant locomotion framework that integrates adjustable disturbance compliance with robust failure prevention. We first train a force compliant policy with adjustable compliance levels using a teacher student reinforcement learning framework, allowing deployment without explicit force sensing. To handle disturbances beyond the limits of compliant control, we develop a safety oriented policy for rapid recovery and stabilization. Finally, we introduce a learned safety critic that monitors the robot's safety in real time and coordinates between compliant locomotion and recovery behaviors. Together, this framework enables quadruped robots to achieve smooth force compliance and robust safety under a wide range of external force disturbances.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_23223
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle SAC-Loco: Safe and Adjustable Compliant Quadrupedal Locomotion
Zhang, Aoqian
Zhuang, Zixuan
Wang, Chunzheng
Ge, Shuzhi Sam
Shi, Fan
Xiang, Cheng
Robotics
Systems and Control
Quadruped robots are designed to achieve agile and robust locomotion by drawing inspiration from legged animals. However, most existing control methods for quadruped robots lack a key capacity observed in animals: the ability to exhibit diverse compliance behaviors while ensuring stability when experiencing external forces. In particular, achieving adjustable compliance while maintaining robust safety under force disturbances remains a significant challenge. In this work, we propose a safety aware compliant locomotion framework that integrates adjustable disturbance compliance with robust failure prevention. We first train a force compliant policy with adjustable compliance levels using a teacher student reinforcement learning framework, allowing deployment without explicit force sensing. To handle disturbances beyond the limits of compliant control, we develop a safety oriented policy for rapid recovery and stabilization. Finally, we introduce a learned safety critic that monitors the robot's safety in real time and coordinates between compliant locomotion and recovery behaviors. Together, this framework enables quadruped robots to achieve smooth force compliance and robust safety under a wide range of external force disturbances.
title SAC-Loco: Safe and Adjustable Compliant Quadrupedal Locomotion
topic Robotics
Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.23223