Structural Optimization of Lightweight Bipedal Robot via SERL
This addresses the problem of inefficient, intuition-based robot design for engineers, offering a novel optimization method, though it appears incremental as it builds on existing techniques.
The paper tackles the challenge of designing bipedal robots by introducing the SERL algorithm, which combines reinforcement learning and evolution algorithms to optimize structural parameters, resulting in the robot Wow Orin that shows outstanding energy efficiency and performance compared to state-of-the-art robots like Cassie and Unitree H1.
Designing a bipedal robot is a complex and challenging task, especially when dealing with a multitude of structural parameters. Traditional design methods often rely on human intuition and experience. However, such approaches are time-consuming, labor-intensive, lack theoretical guidance and hard to obtain optimal design results within vast design spaces, thus failing to full exploit the inherent performance potential of robots. In this context, this paper introduces the SERL (Structure Evolution Reinforcement Learning) algorithm, which combines reinforcement learning for locomotion tasks with evolution algorithms. The aim is to identify the optimal parameter combinations within a given multidimensional design space. Through the SERL algorithm, we successfully designed a bipedal robot named Wow Orin, where the optimal leg length are obtained through optimization based on body structure and motor torque. We have experimentally validated the effectiveness of the SERL algorithm, which is capable of optimizing the best structure within specified design space and task conditions. Additionally, to assess the performance gap between our designed robot and the current state-of-the-art robots, we compared Wow Orin with mainstream bipedal robots Cassie and Unitree H1. A series of experimental results demonstrate the Outstanding energy efficiency and performance of Wow Orin, further validating the feasibility of applying the SERL algorithm to practical design.