ArtPlanner: Robust Legged Robot Navigation in the Field

Abstract: Due to the highly complex environment present during the DARPA Subterranean Challenge, all six funded teams relied on legged robots as part of their robotic team. Their unique locomotion skills of being able to step over obstacles require special considerations for navigation planning. In this work, we present and examine ArtPlanner, the navigation planner used by team CERBERUS during the Finals. It is based on a sampling-based method that determines valid poses with a reachability abstraction and uses learned foothold scores to restrict areas considered safe for stepping. The resulting planning graph is assigned learned motion costs by a neural network trained in simulation to minimize traversal time and limit the risk of failure. Our method achieves real-time performance with a bounded computation time. We present extensive experimental results gathered during the Finals event of the DARPA Subterranean Challenge, where this method contributed to team CERBERUS winning the competition. It powered navigation of four ANYmal quadrupeds for 90 minutes of autonomous operation without a single planning or locomotion failure.