mlsanityData to 7 Oct 2026

Creating a Dynamic Quadrupedal Robotic Goalkeeper with Reinforcement Learning

arXiv 2210.04435 ↗First posted 10 Oct 2022cs.RO cs.AI cs.SYcited by 17

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Abstract (arXiv)

We present a reinforcement learning (RL) framework that enables quadrupedal robots to perform soccer goalkeeping tasks in the real world. Soccer goalkeeping using quadrupeds is a challenging problem, that combines highly dynamic locomotion with precise and fast non-prehensile object (ball) manipulation. The robot needs to react to and intercept a potentially flying ball using dynamic locomotion maneuvers in a very short amount of time, usually less than one second. In this paper, we propose to address this problem using a hierarchical model-free RL framework. The first component of the framework contains multiple control policies for distinct locomotion skills, which can be used to cover different regions of the goal. Each control policy enables the robot to track random parametric end-effector trajectories while performing one specific locomotion skill, such as jump, dive, and sidestep. These skills are then utilized by the second part of the framework which is a high-level planner to determine a desired skill and end-effector trajectory in order to intercept a ball flying to different regions of the goal. We deploy the proposed framework on a Mini Cheetah quadrupedal robot and demonstrate the effectiveness of our framework for various agile interceptions of a fast-moving ball in the real world.

Key facts. Cited by 17 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Builds on 22 of its 37 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 10 Oct 2022.

Builds on

22 of 37 references.

References · 22

  1. 2017Proximal Policy Optimization Algorithmscited by 14,441
  2. 2022YOLOv7: Trainable bag-of-freebies sets new state-of-the-art for real-time object detectorscited by 978
  3. 2021Isaac Gym: High Performance GPU-Based Physics Simulation For Robot Learningcited by 882
  4. 2022Learning robust perceptive locomotion for quadrupedal robots in the wildcited by 299
  5. 2020Learning Agile Robotic Locomotion Skills by Imitating Animalscited by 229
  6. 2022Rapid Locomotion via Reinforcement Learningcited by 130
  7. 2021Reinforcement Learning for Robust Parameterized Locomotion Control of Bipedal Robotscited by 95
  8. 2022Adversarial Motion Priors Make Good Substitutes for Complex Reward Functionscited by 68
  9. 2022Concurrent Training of a Control Policy and a State Estimator for Dynamic and Robust Legged Locomotioncited by 61
  10. 2019Highly Dynamic Quadruped Locomotion via Whole-Body Impulse Control and Model Predictive Controlcited by 43
  11. 2022Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning for Precise Soccer Shooting Skills using a Quadrupedal Robotcited by 32
  12. 2020Learning to Play Table Tennis From Scratch using Muscular Robotscited by 31
10 more
  1. 2022i-Sim2Real: Reinforcement Learning of Robotic Policies in Tight Human-Robot Interaction Loopscited by 30
  2. 2022Imitate and Repurpose: Learning Reusable Robot Movement Skills From Human and Animal Behaviorscited by 27
  3. 2021Model-free Reinforcement Learning for Robust Locomotion using Demonstrations from Trajectory Optimizationcited by 16
  4. 2020Robotic Table Tennis with Model-Free Reinforcement Learningcited by 13
  5. 2020Animated Cassie: A Dynamic Relatable Robotic Charactercited by 12
  6. 2020Sample-efficient Reinforcement Learning in Robotic Table Tenniscited by 10
  7. 2020Catch the Ball: Accurate High-Speed Motions for Mobile Manipulators via Inverse Dynamics Learningcited by 7
  8. 2021Autonomous Navigation for Quadrupedal Robots with Optimized Jumping through Constrained Obstaclescited by 6
  9. 2021Contact-timing and Trajectory Optimization for 3D Jumping on Quadruped Robotscited by 5
  10. 2021Optimal Stroke Learning with Policy Gradient Approach for Robotic Table Tenniscited by 2

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Cited by year (2026 to 7 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2023: 6; 2024: 5; 2025: 4; 2026: 2.

17 papers.

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  1. 2025BeyondMimic: From Motion Tracking to Versatile Humanoid Control via Guided Diffusioncited by 128
  2. 2023Robot Parkour Learningcited by 115
  3. 2023Learning Agile Soccer Skills for a Bipedal Robot with Deep Reinforcement Learningcited by 111
  4. 2024Reinforcement Learning for Versatile, Dynamic, and Robust Bipedal Locomotion Controlcited by 63
  5. 2023DribbleBot: Dynamic Legged Manipulation in the Wildcited by 33
  6. 2023Robust and Versatile Bipedal Jumping Control through Reinforcement Learningcited by 27
  7. 2024Learning Visual Quadrupedal Loco-Manipulation from Demonstrationscited by 15
  8. 2024SoloParkour: Constrained Reinforcement Learning for Visual Locomotion from Privileged Experiencecited by 10
  9. 2023Learning Vision-based Pursuit-Evasion Robot Policiescited by 9
  10. 2023Continuous Versatile Jumping Using Learned Action Residualscited by 5
  11. 2024Reinforcement Learning Within the Classical Robotics Stack: A Case Study in Robot Soccercited by 5
  12. 2026Learning Human-Like Badminton Skills for Humanoid Robotscited by 3
5 more
  1. 2024DexDribbler: Learning Dexterous Soccer Manipulation via Dynamic Supervisioncited by 2
  2. 2025Toward Real-World Cooperative and Competitive Soccer with Quadrupedal Robot Teamscited by 1
  3. 2025Bipedalism for Quadrupedal Robots: Versatile Loco-Manipulation through Risk-Adaptive Reinforcement Learningcited by 1
  4. 2025Scoop-and-Toss: Dynamic Object Collection for Quadrupedal Systemscited by 0
  5. 2026Towards Professional Tennis Styles for Humanoid Robots with Adaptive Motion Planning and Trackingcited by 0