Learning Robust Autonomous Navigation and Locomotion for Wheeled-legged Robots

In our new Science Robotics paper, we introduce an autonomous navigation system developed for our wheeled-legged quadrupeds, designed for fast and efficient navigation within large urban environments. Driven by neural network policies, our simple, unified control system enables smooth gait transitions, smart navigation planning, and highly responsive obstacle avoidance in populated urban environments.
With the Swiss-Mile prototype robot, we have conducted kilometer-scale missions for months and proved the feasibility of our system for real-world applications.
Project website: junja94.github...
Paper link: www.science.or...

[@claudiabaran-konarska8409]

I love the idea. Pure leg-walking is so inefficient

[@leggedrobotics]

Agreed 👍

[@yoyomemory6825]

Wow! this version of robot dog is amazing!!

[@leggedrobotics]

Thank you 🙏 there are many more videos of the robot. Even standing on two legs 🤘

[@JoJoNumbarOne]

Good job! When it's in all wheel mode, maybe you can use some mechanical locks to fix the joints to save more electricity for the acutator on these joints. Keep only the necessary ones unlocked for steering left/right

[@lolzdatguy4987]

The ones moving the legs up/down act as a kind of suspension from what I can see. Locking those would only be possible on mostly flat terrain

[@leggedrobotics]

Good idea 👍

[@JoJoNumbarOne]

@@lolzdatguy4987 A lock pin with a piece of rubber, crusing on "mostly flat“ terrain :P

[@johgude5045]

or just turn these axis into an end stop so motor power of these actuators can be turned off. A position with the main body close to the ground to also reduce aerodynamic drag

[@yinyang2385]

I'd love to see this in a fight to the death with boston dynamics SPOT.

[@TinyShaman]

This is brilliant. I absolutely love the combination of wheeled and legged locomotion, and the way they interact and complement each other, not just switch. Can't wait to see these things learn and become more agile and graceful.

[@leggedrobotics]

The wheels even help when going up the stairs :)

[@TinyShaman]

@@leggedrobotics Exactly. If you guys keep at it, the thing will be hopping and leaping around like a mind-blowing wheeled gazelle. 😊

[@TheRealityWarper08]

This would be a really good replacement for the current food delivery robots, which are far too slow to outrun people with malicious intent!

[@NoosaHeads]

If this is real (ie, not CGI) then it's very impressive. What troubles me is that robot voice. It lends a synthetic air to the entire video.

[@leggedrobotics]

It’s real :)

[@Tech_Planet]

Easily the most advanced robotic dog platform!

[@leggedrobotics]

🤘🤘🤘🤘

[@Covid_19_23]

if such a robot is much more economical than a robot on legs, then your idea will definitely win in the future!

[@leggedrobotics]

Fingers crossed 🤞

[@rodrigobarraza]

Amazing work guys. Been following your progress for a long time. My favorite robot dog of all!

[@leggedrobotics]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@johneisnor]

What is the runtime for this robot before needing to be recharged? I could see something like this doing security for a compound, or, search and rescue etc, but only if it had several hours of charge

[@leggedrobotics]

Our startup Swiss-Mile is commercializing the robot for security. Their new robot can run for 5h.

[@gufran_]

Congratulation 🎉 to the team who designed this revolutionary concept of locomotion.

[@honestjakes]

It was "The Wheelers" in the movie Return to Oz (1985) with Fairuza Balk. They are awesome characters, and this needs to be dressed in that costume.

[@zambani]

I've always said that the robot that we will ultimately use for general purpose won't look like a human and have normal fingers and legs. If you gonna build something to physically assist us why start with a human frame with its known limitations. These guys have it right. Take the best parts of as many species and vehicles as possible.

[@leggedrobotics]

That’s correct! Do not copy nature if we have different tools to build machines.

[@WaveOfDestiny]

I'm just in love with this thing, i don't get why everyone makes robots with normal feet when you can have this and waste less energy and be faster, especially if you can switch configuration. Are feet just more stable at this stage of learning?.

[@leggedrobotics]

People like to copy nature

[@rtgbhnkbn7004]

this is the ultimate solution for robot legs. felixable like human leg, faster than human leg

[@leggedrobotics]

I like the slogan at the end

[@mark9294]

This looks like a winning design.

[@leggedrobotics]

Thanks 🙏

[@robertmoore119]

Lol, Wizard of OZ! That robot is really strange and cool. You can see it processing walk or rollkneecaps. It also needs kneepads. It was bumping its poor knees. Looks a little clumsy, but with more time machine learning, I bet it will be awesome!

[@leggedrobotics]

It already has knee pads :)

[@briananeuraysem3321]

“Wake up babe, new Robotic System Labs: Legged Robotics at ETH Zürich video”

[@vaisakhkm783]

Wake up babe.... someone posted wakeup babe meme again...

[@leggedrobotics]

That’s right!

[@kennethattans5566]

This is a game changer in autonomous navigation. Kudos to the team who made this possible.

[@leggedrobotics]

Thank you 🙏

[@pchoice0]

우와 충격적인 관절과 대응 타이어에 변화에 대한 허용범위와 대응 그리고 타이어는 바로 정교함에 여유를 주는 요소이고 관절대응은 정말 인간을 넘어서는 순발력이네요 연구진들 대단합니다.

[@leggedrobotics]

Thank you 🙏

[@jothamcharles5412]

Autobots.... Roll out!!!!

[@leggedrobotics]

Autobots are becoming real 🤩

[@bracodescammer]

I'd love to know how you picked a scalable framework. Looks great.

[@laviedealain5855]

Speed, climbing and jumping !!! That's amazing !

[@leggedrobotics]

Thank you 🙏

[@yishujia186]

This idea is impressive. I wonder how much this can extend the battery life compared to full walking mode.

[@leggedrobotics]

By a factor of 2 and more that’s 3 times the distance.

[@zazouille2264]

Great job. The combination of modes is amazing!

[@leggedrobotics]

Glad you think so!

[@abdelkadernechadi7497]

The future has already begun

[@leggedrobotics]

Finally

[@ashan725]

INCREDIBLE DESIGN

[@leggedrobotics]

Glad you like it!

[@Lion_McLionhead]

Quite a phenomenon in the last few years.

[@leggedrobotics]

Thank you 🙏

[@zonta71]

We have arrived at the template for autonomous public carts. Finally something that works

[@leggedrobotics]

Haha finally :)

[@mhuruuk]

хочу себе такой, с местом для пассажира, с джойстиком (или еще каким устройством для управления, конечно чип в мозгу был бы прекрасен)

[@leggedrobotics]

We will work on it.

[@harold.one.feather]

They need to be strong enough to arm them with Panzerfaust and Tank Killer Rifles, first strike and fixed defensive positions are perfect for these killer robots

[@leggedrobotics]

We do not add weapons on our robot!

[@shaider1982]

I think I saw a video where a Chinese company (LimX?) has a wheeled Spot look alike. I think this is better than just pure walking.

[@sylvanobenard6461]

It reminds me of the wheelers from the movie return to OZ

[@leggedrobotics]

It’s a great movie 🎥

[@sylvanobenard6461]

True yes

[@drancerd]

Amazing! Now bombs are 10x faster in 10 km of autonomus range! ❤

[@leggedrobotics]

That’s bad 🙅‍♂️

[@rob23062007]

Cool, make one with handle bars and a seat please

[@leggedrobotics]

Good idea. The next gen motor bikes 🚴

[@AMPProf]

SURE GrandMuters diving Robots lolz

[@AMPProf]

BETTER MAKE it pull a Fairytale carriage

[@richardpackerandlindapacke503]

This would be great for a handicapped person to gain more mobility.

[@OriginalJetForMe]

This is excellent work! Have you published your source code and trained models?

[@leggedrobotics]

No, sorry

[@alejandrocastro211]

this is absolutely impressive

[@leggedrobotics]

Thank you 🙏

[@egementanik2170]

Lassie is onto it.

[@leggedrobotics]

What does this mean?

[@kentherapy7022]

I spotted Sarah Connor in the background in the distance.....👀

[@leggedrobotics]

Haha so you must be German to know Sarah Connor

[@polygonpanda]

Oh shit! It's like a robotic Wheeler from Return to Oz.

[@Mortague]

Exactly! My childhood nightmare is now real 😂

[@leggedrobotics]

The wheelers are coming 🚴

[@alexjuback8127]

It will be cool when it's real. Notice the blurred image around the robot. Seems very CGI

[@leggedrobotics]

Haha no CGI

[@interestedinstuff1499]

Anymal is such a great platform. If I were an engineer I'd definitely use wheels, but I'd make them be able to either lock to become just the end of the leg, or pivot out of the way. Relying on just the motor to lock the wheel gives the robot a less stable footing in some situations. Be groovy to teach the robot how to move with its wheel when that's the most efficient, but use feet when the wheels are an impediment. Like the Tachikoma on Ghost in the Shell. (The smart spider tanks. I imagine all the developers on this project are into science fiction).

[@leggedrobotics]

You can always become an engineer :)

[@plaguedoctor6061]

why not make the robot able to lock the wheels when going up stairs or such?

[@leggedrobotics]

Because the wheels even help when going up the stairs. The robot merely rolls over the edge of the step.

[@marijnstollenga1601]

Impressive policies! Amazing that the policies learned in simulation transfers to the real word

[@leggedrobotics]

We know how to transfer it :)

[@marijnstollenga1601]

@@leggedrobotics Cool I'll check the paper!

[@casiosx003]

'Return to Oz' nightmares

[@leggedrobotics]

They are coming back 🤯

[@fitnessnature]

YAP ! Wheels/legs combination is the best for robot moving, if I make robot it will do the same.

[@leggedrobotics]

Exactly 👍

[@homefreedome217]

Good job guys!

[@leggedrobotics]

Thank you

[@Featherless1]

That thing is nothing but another moving target... *THE WOODS AIN'T SAFE!*

[@leejunja]

😂

[@pavolslab7831]

I have seen the future of food delivery here, well done 👏 would love to work for you guys 😍

[@leggedrobotics]

Thanks!!

[@healingbyqurannow]

The competition of robots.

[@leggedrobotics]

Let’s make them a reality ❤️

[@Charles-Darwin]

can you train it to skate along like an inline skater? I could see it hitting narrow gaps just balancing on one side and tucking in the the other wheel set

[@leggedrobotics]

We did that already. Check out our other videos

[@JasmineSurrealVideos]

This robot could also be adapted for other purposes, would be great in supermarkets rather than wonky manual trollies that are clunky and get heavy to push around. What about an automatic baby stroller so mums and dads wouldn't have to manually push the pram?

[@Flawtistic]

So, Metalhead is gonna have wheels in this timeline of Black Mirror? yay

[@leggedrobotics]

This will become the good version of metalhead :)

[@dasularavinath]

Man, that looked like one badass transformer...🔥🔥🔥

[@leggedrobotics]

🔥 🔥 🔥

[@thomasmaiden3356]

I think that "wheeled-legged" solves a bunch of problems, but it looks difficult to build.

[@lgtwzrd]

It should theoretically be able to reduce power consumption 50% or even 75% while travelling over longer distances by acting like a bike or monowheel. Right?

[@anthony212459]

They stepped progress into hyper drive mode. 😂

[@leggedrobotics]

What does this mean?

[@RonLWilson]

A variant of this could be to have a homolid robot ride an e-bike (or e-trike or e-unicycle or e scooter) and then dismount when and push the e-bike et al when needed then remount the bike and ride on. This then would extend this controller to humanoid robots where the wheels are not part of the bot but are separate. This allows legacy products that are already optimized to be efficient and already exist to serve the wheeled function and the two, the bot and the bike act as one just as the wheeled robot dog but with even more versatility. But the control is much the same the only addition being the AI to mount and dismount the e-bike and to be able to push it when walking. But even that is a plus in that it would be easir for the bot to maintain balance when walking when pushing a bike in that would give it more stability and make it less likely to fall. Thus imagaine a humaoid robot riding say a cargo e-bike and doing last mile deliveries where it rides along the street just as any cyclist would then gets off at its destination and leaves it package and then remount its cargo e-bike and moves to the next delivery. This is something a robot dog (even on wheels) would not be able to do.

[@leggedrobotics]

Cool future

[@likekim9387]

So how much is it? You can also put a saddle on it

[@leggedrobotics]

Yes 🙌

[@Markfps]

incredible, this needs further funding, improvement and to be sent to Mars

[@leggedrobotics]

Our spinoff Swiss-Mike is taking care of that 🤘

[@zombiekid2424]

You should make it so that the wheels can change from wheels to stilts or something so it can more efficiently go up stairs or hills Ps. If accomplished then in theory the robot could be able to walk 😅

[@leggedrobotics]

Actually by using the wheels the robot can roll up the stairs and be more efficient depending on the kind of stairs.

[@zombiekid2424]

@leggedrobotics I mean I'm not saying it can't but I noticed it skirted a little going up those stairs, so idk maybe more grip but I still think the ability to go from wheels to walkers wouldn't be a bad idea especially if you want the robot to be more versatile, NOT hating LOVE THE BOT just saying thanks for responding 👍

[@user-rk8vv5kv1o]

Здравствуйте, Подскажите, пожалуйста, А могли бы установить кресло для инвалидов на этого робота? Интересно посмотреть, какой вездеход ступенькоход получится для инвалидов - колясочников.

[@leggedrobotics]

We will try our best to achieve that 🤞

[@user-jc3nn8ud3p]

Wow! AKIRA 炭団 has been realized

[@leggedrobotics]

Finally!!

[@wisdomhappy587]

This is the way

[@leggedrobotics]

"Best of both worlds"

[@DanielSimu]

Great progress on the robot. But why the AI voice? :(

[@leggedrobotics]

Good question

[@Thetitaniumsteppermotor]

I wonder how this would function with mechanim wheels on it aswell

[@olis999]

very cool work excited to see how anymal has progressed over the years and for what comes next

[@leggedrobotics]

We will try to keep up the pace!

[@futsk01]

This is such a joy to look at

[@leggedrobotics]

🥰

[@liangcherry]

Good video!

[@leggedrobotics]

Thank you

[@markobjelonic4500]

Amazing ❤

[@leggedrobotics]

Thanks 😄

[@dipakdhanke5296]

Does it give a precise control over the distance it moves?

[@leggedrobotics]

Yes

[@MoonchildTWXZG3000]

every day you know new artificial form of life automatized

[@leggedrobotics]

What a time to be alive!

[@rjung_ch]

ETH is top! This is getting better and better.

[@leggedrobotics]

💪

[@sethpolevoi4027]

Smart! Can’t believe this isn’t more common

[@leggedrobotics]

We are the first mover!

[@downthesight]

Don't worry, robot world domination is coming to us soon enough!

[@Rareme530]

Probably a naive question, but why don't we use both legs and wheels together? wherever legs are better then wheels can be folded up likewise legs.

[@leggedrobotics]

It is using both even when going up the stairs.

[@Varvarmisanthrope]

2:13 Terminator detected

[@leggedrobotics]

The dog or the robot? 🤔

[@Varvarmisanthrope]

@@leggedrobotics 🤖

[@rodrigoapaza8086]

Nature is precius

[@leggedrobotics]

Agreed 👍

[@edd2241]

Wow. Fantastic

[@leggedrobotics]

Thank you 🙏

[@Schmogel92]

Just skip the wheel motors and have it rollerblade around!

[@leggedrobotics]

The first robot we designed 7 years ago had rollerblades. There is a video of it on our channel.

[@RafaelMartins-qn9lk]

Agora testa numa favela aqui no RJ

[@leggedrobotics]

Next challenge!

[@fareli91]

I would envision in future where people will ride on this thing like a horse or bike, VERY COOL!!!

[@leggedrobotics]

Yesss! That’s what I’m sayin

[@motoflyte]

very smartly done !

[@leggedrobotics]

Thanks 🙏

[@markobjelonic2225]

❤❤❤

[@leggedrobotics]

❤️❤️❤️

[@blackhorseteck8381]

Aren't you guys using the Nvidia Omniverse for simulation?

[@leggedrobotics]

This work uses the one that was developed in-house.

[@RandomRoulett3]

Id like to see one that skates on ice.

[@leggedrobotics]

Good idea!

[@dowesschule]

Why is there a unitree B1 or B2 clip at the very end?

[@leggedrobotics]

The company Swiss-Mile started to commercialize an adapted version of unitree.

[@adrianperez3375]

I enjoyed the robot, but was thrown off by the ai narrator. Its okay to use an ai narrator, but use a better one. And please dont have him read the titles in your script.

[@leggedrobotics]

Thanks for the feedback. Next time, we will use a real voice

[@OriginalJetForMe]

@@leggedroboticsThank you!

[@HarveyMercer-io2zf]

That. Look 5

[@realSethMeyers]

​@@leggedrobotics As a professional voiceover artist for the last 10 years who's been seeing less and less work due to AI, thank you

[@damag3plan]

I offer my voice free of charge🤙

[@minuteman91]

Incredible design! Color me inspired

[@leggedrobotics]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@raphaelvibar7481]

Fuchikoma predecessor

[@leggedrobotics]

👍

[@leejunja]

Exactly

[@methord]

지상 드론 같은 느낌이다.

[@leggedrobotics]

True

[@ehrichsmiddy4663]

Looks like something you’d see in the “Tales from the Loop” books

[@AMPProf]

Please Have one pull Fairytale Carriage

[@leggedrobotics]

We will!

[@Blockistium]

this is just irl Puppytruck by Sean Dick

[@leggedrobotics]

Haha

[@jackburton5085]

ohh noo ooohhh nooooo Return to Oz becomes reality!!!

[@leggedrobotics]

Yes 🤩

[@cembora4849]

Come test it in Istanbul, if this robot works here then works everywhere in this planet or even mars.

[@leggedrobotics]

Good point! We will come ✈️

[@xcidgaf]

What’s the battery life like?

[@leggedrobotics]

It depends on the mission. Roughly around 2 hrs for the missions in the video

[@xcidgaf]

@@leggedrobotics not bad.

[@pyshine_official]

love it keep the good work going❤

[@leggedrobotics]

We will 🤘

[@omnianti0]

i guess usage of motorised wheels is a failure instead of using rotating ankle/wrist that will allow to induce rollerskate moves and many others climbing abilitys

[@leggedrobotics]

We started with rollerskates and the performance of motors in the wheels allows for higher performance.

[@omnianti0]

@@leggedrobotics i meant the rollerskate move need a diferent ankle motor for pushing like a oar obivously the spped is limited

[@khanhhung8959]

Unitree seems to be sleeker.

[@richardwatkins6725]

scale that up for my iron horse.

[@leggedrobotics]

Why?

[@AORaiMechWork]

imagine these chase people with siren pepper spray and taser