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Robust localization, mapping, and navigation for quadruped robots

Aditya, Dyuman ; Huang, Junning ; Bohlinger, Nico ; Kicki, Piotr ; Walas, Krzysztof ; Peters, Jan ; Luperto, Matteo and Tateo, Davide LU orcid (2025) 12th European Conference on Mobile Robots, ECMR 2025 In 2025 European Conference on Mobile Robots, ECMR 2025 - Proceedings
Abstract

Quadruped robots are currently a widespread platform for robotics research, thanks to powerful Reinforcement Learning controllers and the availability of cheap and robust commercial platforms. However, to broaden the adoption of the technology in the real world, we require robust navigation stacks relying only on low-cost sensors such as depth cameras. This paper presents a first step towards a robust localization, mapping, and navigation system for low-cost quadruped robots. In pursuit of this objective, we combine contact-aided kinematic, visual-inertial odometry, and depth-stabilized vision, enhancing the system's stability and accuracy. Our results in simulation and two different real-world quadruped platforms show that our system... (More)

Quadruped robots are currently a widespread platform for robotics research, thanks to powerful Reinforcement Learning controllers and the availability of cheap and robust commercial platforms. However, to broaden the adoption of the technology in the real world, we require robust navigation stacks relying only on low-cost sensors such as depth cameras. This paper presents a first step towards a robust localization, mapping, and navigation system for low-cost quadruped robots. In pursuit of this objective, we combine contact-aided kinematic, visual-inertial odometry, and depth-stabilized vision, enhancing the system's stability and accuracy. Our results in simulation and two different real-world quadruped platforms show that our system can generate an accurate 2D map of the environment, robustly localize itself, and navigate autonomously. Furthermore, we present in-depth ablation studies of the system's key components and their impact on localization accuracy. Videos, code, and additional experiments can be found on the project website.1

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
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publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
2025 European Conference on Mobile Robots, ECMR 2025 - Proceedings
series title
2025 European Conference on Mobile Robots, ECMR 2025 - Proceedings
editor
Gasteratos, Antonios ; Bellotto, Nicola and Tortora, Stefano
publisher
IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
conference name
12th European Conference on Mobile Robots, ECMR 2025
conference location
Padua, Italy
conference dates
2025-09-02 - 2025-09-05
external identifiers
  • scopus:105018215248
ISBN
9798331527051
DOI
10.1109/ECMR65884.2025.11163249
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
1ce95e82-d7d6-4a5b-8bf0-92e36309568c
date added to LUP
2025-10-16 14:30:51
date last changed
2025-11-03 16:17:54
@inproceedings{1ce95e82-d7d6-4a5b-8bf0-92e36309568c,
  abstract     = {{<p>Quadruped robots are currently a widespread platform for robotics research, thanks to powerful Reinforcement Learning controllers and the availability of cheap and robust commercial platforms. However, to broaden the adoption of the technology in the real world, we require robust navigation stacks relying only on low-cost sensors such as depth cameras. This paper presents a first step towards a robust localization, mapping, and navigation system for low-cost quadruped robots. In pursuit of this objective, we combine contact-aided kinematic, visual-inertial odometry, and depth-stabilized vision, enhancing the system's stability and accuracy. Our results in simulation and two different real-world quadruped platforms show that our system can generate an accurate 2D map of the environment, robustly localize itself, and navigate autonomously. Furthermore, we present in-depth ablation studies of the system's key components and their impact on localization accuracy. Videos, code, and additional experiments can be found on the project website.<sup>1</sup></p>}},
  author       = {{Aditya, Dyuman and Huang, Junning and Bohlinger, Nico and Kicki, Piotr and Walas, Krzysztof and Peters, Jan and Luperto, Matteo and Tateo, Davide}},
  booktitle    = {{2025 European Conference on Mobile Robots, ECMR 2025 - Proceedings}},
  editor       = {{Gasteratos, Antonios and Bellotto, Nicola and Tortora, Stefano}},
  isbn         = {{9798331527051}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.}},
  series       = {{2025 European Conference on Mobile Robots, ECMR 2025 - Proceedings}},
  title        = {{Robust localization, mapping, and navigation for quadruped robots}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ECMR65884.2025.11163249}},
  doi          = {{10.1109/ECMR65884.2025.11163249}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}