# Advancing Humanoid Locomotion: Mastering Challenging Terrains with Denoising World Model Learning

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.14472 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.14472/

## Key facts

- Cited by 56 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Humanoid and legged locomotion world models, one of 11 directions in World models.
- Builds on 28 of its 43 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 26 Aug 2024.

## Placed in

- World models / [Humanoid and legged locomotion world models](https://mlsanity.com/wm/humanoid-and-legged-locomotion-world-models/)
- Deep reinforcement learning methods / [RL for robot locomotion and manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/deeprl/rl-for-robot-locomotion-and-manipulation/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 28 of 28)

- [BERT: Pre-training of Deep Bidirectional Transformers for Language Understanding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1810.04805/) (2018)
- [Proximal Policy Optimization Algorithms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1707.06347/) (2017)
- [Masked Autoencoders Are Scalable Vision Learners](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.06377/) (2021)
- [Domain Randomization for Transferring Deep Neural Networks from Simulation to the Real World](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.06907/) (2017)
- [Learning Latent Dynamics for Planning from Pixels](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1811.04551/) (2018)
- [Isaac Gym: High Performance GPU-Based Physics Simulation For Robot Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.10470/) (2021)
- [Learning Quadrupedal Locomotion over Challenging Terrain](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.11251/) (2020)
- [Learning to Walk in Minutes Using Massively Parallel Deep Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.11978/) (2021)
- [Learning agile and dynamic motor skills for legged robots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.08652/) (2019)
- [Learning by Cheating](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.12294/) (2019)
- [Sim-to-Real: Learning Agile Locomotion For Quadruped Robots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1804.10332/) (2018)
- [Gate-Variants of Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1701.05923/) (2017)
- [Asymmetric Actor Critic for Image-Based Robot Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1710.06542/) (2017)
- [Legged Locomotion in Challenging Terrains using Egocentric Vision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.07638/) (2022)
- [State Representation Learning for Control: An Overview](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.04181/) (2018)
- [Reinforcement Learning for Robust Parameterized Locomotion Control of Bipedal Robots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.14295/) (2021)
- [Neural probabilistic motor primitives for humanoid control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1811.11711/) (2018)
- [Sim-to-Real Learning of All Common Bipedal Gaits via Periodic Reward Composition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.01387/) (2020)
- [Masking: A New Perspective of Noisy Supervision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1805.08193/) (2018)
- [Blind Bipedal Stair Traversal via Sim-to-Real Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.08328/) (2021)
- [Adapting Rapid Motor Adaptation for Bipedal Robots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.15299/) (2022)
- [Humanoid-Gym: Reinforcement Learning for Humanoid Robot with Zero-Shot Sim2Real Transfer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.05695/) (2024)
- [Sparsity Winning Twice: Better Robust Generalization from More Efficient Training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.09844/) (2022)
- [A Unified MPC Framework for Whole-Body Dynamic Locomotion and Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.00946/) (2021)
- [The MIT Humanoid Robot: Design, Motion Planning, and Control For Acrobatic Behaviors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.09025/) (2021)
- [Learning natural locomotion behaviors for humanoid robots using human knowledge](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.10195/) (2020)
- [Dynamic Walking with Compliance on a Cassie Bipedal Robot](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.11104/) (2019)
- [Multi-contact MPC for Dynamic Loco-manipulation on Humanoid Robots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.08662/) (2022)

## Built on by (most cited first, 30 of 56)

- [ASAP: Aligning Simulation and Real-World Physics for Learning Agile Humanoid Whole-Body Skills](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.01143/) (2025)
- [TWIST: Teleoperated Whole-Body Imitation System](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.02833/) (2025)
- [HOMIE: Humanoid Loco-Manipulation with Isomorphic Exoskeleton Cockpit](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.13013/) (2025)
- [A Comprehensive Survey on World Models for Embodied AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.16732/) (2025)
- [Residual Off-Policy RL for Finetuning Behavior Cloning Policies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.19301/) (2025)
- [Generalizable Humanoid Manipulation with 3D Diffusion Policies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.10803/) (2024)
- [A Survey: Learning Embodied Intelligence from Physical Simulators and World Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.00917/) (2025)
- [BeamDojo: Learning Agile Humanoid Locomotion on Sparse Footholds](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.10363/) (2025)
- [Learning Smooth Humanoid Locomotion through Lipschitz-Constrained Policies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.11825/) (2024)
- [Learning from Massive Human Videos for Universal Humanoid Pose Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.14172/) (2024)
- [HuB: Learning Extreme Humanoid Balance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.07294/) (2025)
- [Learning Getting-Up Policies for Real-World Humanoid Robots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.12152/) (2025)
- [Learning Humanoid Locomotion with World Model Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.16230/) (2025)
- [A Unified and General Humanoid Whole-Body Controller for Versatile Locomotion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.03206/) (2025)
- [Humanoid Whole-Body Locomotion on Narrow Terrain via Dynamic Balance and Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.17219/) (2025)
- [Physical Plausibility-aware Trajectory Prediction via Locomotion Embodiment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.17267/) (2025)
- [MoRE: Mixture of Residual Experts for Humanoid Lifelike Gaits Learning on Complex Terrains](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.08840/) (2025)
- [SkillBlender: Towards Versatile Humanoid Whole-Body Loco-Manipulation via Skill Blending](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.09366/) (2025)
- [StyleLoco: Generative Adversarial Distillation for Natural Humanoid Robot Locomotion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.15082/) (2025)
- [Towards Adaptable Humanoid Control via Adaptive Motion Tracking](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.14454/) (2025)
- [Multi-Loco: Unifying Multi-Embodiment Legged Locomotion via Reinforcement Learning Augmented Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.11470/) (2025)
- [Robot Trains Robot: Automatic Real-World Policy Adaptation and Learning for Humanoids](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.12252/) (2025)
- [From Generated Human Videos to Physically Plausible Robot Trajectories](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.05094/) (2025)
- [Overcoming Statistical Bias in Action-Controllable World Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.04653/) (2026)
- [DreamPolicy: A Unified World-model Policy for Scalable Humanoid Locomotion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.18780/) (2025)
- [Gait-Adaptive Perceptive Humanoid Locomotion with Real-Time Under-Base Terrain Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.07464/) (2025)
- [Let Humanoids Hike! Integrative Skill Development on Complex Trails](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.06218/) (2025)
- [Coordinated Humanoid Manipulation with Choice Policies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.25072/) (2025)
- [TTT-Parkour: Rapid Test-Time Training for Perceptive Robot Parkour](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.02331/) (2026)
- [HAIC: Humanoid Agile Object Interaction Control via Dynamics-Aware World Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.11758/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Humanoid robots, with their human-like skeletal structure, are especially suited for tasks in human-centric environments. However, this structure is accompanied by additional challenges in locomotion controller design, especially in complex real-world environments. As a result, existing humanoid robots are limited to relatively simple terrains, either with model-based control or model-free reinforcement learning. In this work, we introduce Denoising World Model Learning (DWL), an end-to-end reinforcement learning framework for humanoid locomotion control, which demonstrates the world's first humanoid robot to master real-world challenging terrains such as snowy and inclined land in the wild, up and down stairs, and extremely uneven terrains. All scenarios run the same learned neural network with zero-shot sim-to-real transfer, indicating the superior robustness and generalization capability of the proposed method.