How Robots Learn To Hike - AI Summary

ETH Zurich researchers led by Marco Hutter developed a new control approach that enables a legged robot, called ANYmal, to move quickly and robustly over difficult terrain. Steep sections on slippery ground, high steps, scree and forest trails full of roots: the path up the 1,098-meter-high Mount Etzel at the southern end of Lake Zurich is peppered with numerous obstacles. "The reason is that the information about the immediate environment recorded by laser sensors and cameras is often incomplete and ambiguous," explains Takahiro Miki, a doctoral student in Hutter's group and lead author of the study. Before the robot could put its capabilities to the test in the real world, the scientists exposed the system to numerous obstacles and sources of error in a virtual training camp. The ETH Zurich robot automatically and quickly overcame numerous obstacles and difficult terrain while autonomously exploring an underground system of narrow tunnels, caves, and urban infrastructure.