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Main Authors: Ding, Jiayu, Chen, Xulin, Katz, Garrett E., Gan, Zhenyu
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.10455
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author Ding, Jiayu
Chen, Xulin
Katz, Garrett E.
Gan, Zhenyu
author_facet Ding, Jiayu
Chen, Xulin
Katz, Garrett E.
Gan, Zhenyu
contents Quadrupedal robots exhibit a wide range of viable gaits, but generating specific footfall sequences often requires laborious expert tuning of numerous variables, such as touch-down and lift-off events and holonomic constraints for each leg. This paper presents a unified reinforcement learning framework for generating versatile quadrupedal gaits by leveraging the intrinsic symmetries and velocity-period relationship of dynamic legged systems. We propose a symmetry-guided reward function design that incorporates temporal, morphological, and time-reversal symmetries. By focusing on preserved symmetries and natural dynamics, our approach eliminates the need for predefined trajectories, enabling smooth transitions between diverse locomotion patterns such as trotting, bounding, half-bounding, and galloping. Implemented on the Unitree Go2 robot, our method demonstrates robust performance across a range of speeds in both simulations and hardware tests, significantly improving gait adaptability without extensive reward tuning or explicit foot placement control. This work provides insights into dynamic locomotion strategies and underscores the crucial role of symmetries in robotic gait design.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_10455
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Towards Dynamic Quadrupedal Gaits: A Symmetry-Guided RL Hierarchy Enables Free Gait Transitions at Varying Speeds
Ding, Jiayu
Chen, Xulin
Katz, Garrett E.
Gan, Zhenyu
Robotics
Systems and Control
Quadrupedal robots exhibit a wide range of viable gaits, but generating specific footfall sequences often requires laborious expert tuning of numerous variables, such as touch-down and lift-off events and holonomic constraints for each leg. This paper presents a unified reinforcement learning framework for generating versatile quadrupedal gaits by leveraging the intrinsic symmetries and velocity-period relationship of dynamic legged systems. We propose a symmetry-guided reward function design that incorporates temporal, morphological, and time-reversal symmetries. By focusing on preserved symmetries and natural dynamics, our approach eliminates the need for predefined trajectories, enabling smooth transitions between diverse locomotion patterns such as trotting, bounding, half-bounding, and galloping. Implemented on the Unitree Go2 robot, our method demonstrates robust performance across a range of speeds in both simulations and hardware tests, significantly improving gait adaptability without extensive reward tuning or explicit foot placement control. This work provides insights into dynamic locomotion strategies and underscores the crucial role of symmetries in robotic gait design.
title Towards Dynamic Quadrupedal Gaits: A Symmetry-Guided RL Hierarchy Enables Free Gait Transitions at Varying Speeds
topic Robotics
Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.10455