KYON: Semi-Modular Wheel-Legged Quadruped With Agile Bimanual Capability
2026-06-29 • Robotics
Robotics
AI summaryⓘ
The authors introduce KYON, a robot that can both walk with legs and roll on wheels, depending on the situation. It has a special design to make its movements quick and agile by keeping heavy parts close to the body. KYON also uses smart control methods, including reinforcement learning, to manage tricky movements and stay stable while walking and using its two arms. Tests show it works well in complicated environments, handling both movement and tasks involving manipulation. This makes KYON a versatile robot for different kinds of jobs.
wheel-legged robotquadrupedbimanual manipulationlocomotionreinforcement learningwhole-body controltransmission mechanismsdynamic performancenonlinear dynamics
Authors
Luca Rossini, Arturo Laurenzi, Francesco Ruscelli, Yifang Zhang, Giovanbattista Gravina, Lorenzo Baccelliere, Corrado Burchielli, Stefano Cordasco, Nikos Tsagarakis
Abstract
This paper presents KYON, a hybrid wheel-legged quadruped robot equipped with a bimanual upper body for loco-manipulation tasks. The platform features a semi-modular design with a reconfigurable lower legs, enabling both wheeled and legged locomotion depending on the environment. A design approach that places actuators in the base and uses transmission mechanisms reduces distal inertia, improving agility and dynamic performance. The robot integrates a whole-body control framework together with a reinforcement learning based policy to handle nonlinear dynamics and enhance robustness to disturbances for the execution of locomotion and manipulation tasks, independently. Experimental results demonstrate effective dynamic locomotion and bimanual manipulation, validating the platform's capability to operate in complex and unstructured scenarios.