This repository chronicles the development of BDX-R, a personal endeavor to create a bipedal robot inspired by Disney's BDX droids. The primary goal is to achieve stable walking and successfully bridge the simulation-to-reality (Sim2Real) gap using reinforcement learning.
| BDX-R in Isaac Lab Simulation | BDX-R Physical Prototype |
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The project is currently in its initial phase, with the core focus on mastering bipedal locomotion. The immediate objectives are:
- Achieve Stable Walking: Train a robust walking policy using reinforcement learning.
- Cross the Sim2Real Gap: Successfully transfer the policy trained in a simulated environment to the physical robot.
At this stage, the project is concentrated on the fundamental mechanics of the body's movement. Expressiveness and the integration of a head are future goals to be explored after mastering stable locomotion.
The BDX-R is built with a focus on high-performance components that are accessible to the robotics community. The entire build is being developed with a target budget under $3,000.
- Robstride Motors: These motors provide the necessary torque and precision for dynamic and controlled leg movements.
- NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano: Serving as the onboard computer, the Jetson Orin Nano has the computational power required to run the trained RL policy in real-time.
The robot's ability to walk is being developed through reinforcement learning within the NVIDIA Isaac Lab simulation environment.
A policy is trained in this virtual space, allowing the BDX-R to learn and adapt its movements to maintain balance and achieve forward motion. This process is critical for developing a robust control system before deploying it on the physical hardware.
To install the necessary packages for this project, after cloning the repo, run the following command:
python -m pip install -e source/BDXRThis project is a personal learning journey and would not have been possible without the guidance and inspiration from the wider robotics community. A special thank you to:
Their expertise and willingness to share knowledge have been invaluable.