RL for Robotics

RL: Reinforcement Learning

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Overview

Reinforcement learning for robotics studies how robots can learn actions that achieve goals while coping with contact, uncertainty, and changing environments. Common methods include PPO, SAC, and TD3, often trained in parallel simulation with domain randomization; imitation learning, motion priors, and pretrained vision-language-action models increasingly provide useful starting points. Work spans humanoid locomotion, aerial and mobile navigation, and manipulation that uses tactile feedback, with safety filters and learned world models helping address risky or partially observed tasks. A central challenge is making learning more sample-efficient while ensuring that simulated skills and learned rewards remain reliable on real robots and unfamiliar situations.

Latest papers

CardsList

253 papers45 papers in the last four weeks, up 45% on the four weeks before. 0.3% of all new papers.

  1. PlatoLTL: Scaling LTL-Guided Multi-Task RL

    Jan 30, 2026Jacques Cloete, Mathias Jackermeier, Ioannis Havoutis +1RL for RoboticsConstrained RL

    Oxford Robotics Institute University of Oxford Oxford, United Kingdom · Department of Computer Science University of Oxford Oxford, United Kingdom

  2. OGPO: One-Step Generative Policy Optimization for Real-Time Robot Control

    Jan 28, 2026Guowei Zou, Haitao Wang, Hejun Wu +3Robotic ControlReal-Time Robot Control

    School of Computer Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China · Guangdong Key Laboratory of Big Data Analysis and Processing, Guangzhou, China

  3. Reversible Simplex Supervision with Post-Action Debt Accounting for Goal-Reaching RL

    Jan 27, 2026Mehdi Heydari Shahna, Joongheon Kim, Jouni MattilaRL for RoboticsRobot Safety

    Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland · Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

  4. AION: Aerial Indoor Object-Goal Navigation Using Dual-Policy Reinforcement Learning

    Jan 22, 2026Zichen Yan, Yuchen Hou, Shenao Wang +3RL for RoboticsAerial Robotics

    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

  5. SHARE: Sharing Human Actions across Robot Embodiments through Unified Retargeting and Tracking

    Jan 12, 2026Junzhe Xu, Haoyu Zhang, Yunheng Wang +6Human-to-Robot Motion ImitationCross-Embodiment Robot Learning

    JD Explore Academy Beijing, China

  6. Humanoid Whole-Body Badminton via an Annealed Reinforcement Learning Curriculum

    Nov 14, 2025Chenhao Liu, Leyun Jiang, Ningyuan Tian +4RL for RoboticsReinforcement Learning

  7. Thor: Towards Human-Inspired Whole-Body Reactions for Intense Contact-Rich Environments

    Oct 30, 2025Gangyang Li, Hongzhe Shi, Qing Shi +5RL for RoboticsHumanoid Loco-Manipulation

    Intelligent Robotics Institute, School of Mechatronical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology · Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence

  8. CBF-RL: Safety Filtering Reinforcement Learning in Training with Control Barrier Functions

    Oct 16, 2025Lizhi Yang, Blake Werner, Massimiliano de Sa +1RL for RoboticsControl Barrier Functions

    Caltech MCE

  9. Pretraining in Actor-Critic Reinforcement Learning for Locomotion

    Oct 14, 2025Jiale Fan, Andrei Cramariuc, Tifanny Portela +1RL for RoboticsReinforcement Learning

    Section of Microengineering, EPFL, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland · Robotic Systems Lab, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland · ETH AI Center, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland

  10. Learning Acrobatic Flight from Preferences

    Aug 26, 2025Colin Merk, Ismail Geles, Jiaxu Xing +3RL for RoboticsAerial Robotics

    Robotics and Perception Group, University of Zurich, Switzerland · Autonomous Learning and Predictive Intelligence Lab, University of Zurich, Switzerland

  11. RetrDex: Efficient Object Retrieval in Cluttered Scenes with a Dexterous Hand

    Feb 25, 2025Fengshuo Bai, Yu Li, Jie Chu +5RL for RoboticsRobotic Manipulation

    Shanghai Jiao Tong University · PKU-PsiBot Joint Lab · Peking University +2

  12. A Survey on Reinforcement Learning Applications in SLAM

    Aug 26, 2024Mohammad Dehghani Tezerjani, Mohammad Khoshnazar, Mohammadhamed Tangestanizadeh +2Simultaneous Localization and MappingRL for Robotics

    Computer Science and Engineering, University of North Texas, Denton, USA · Institute of Artificial Intelligence, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany · Computer Science and Engineering, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, USA +1

  13. Robust Recurrent Reinforcement Learning under Evolving Hidden Disturbances with Application to Rover Wheel Slip

    Jul 29, 2023Saki Omi, Hyo-Sang Shin, Namhoon Cho +2RL for RoboticsReinforcement Learning

    Space Robotics Research Group, Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust, University of Luxembourg · School of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing, Cranfield University, Cranfield, U.K. · Department of Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea