HUSKY: Humanoid Skateboarding System via Physics-Aware Whole-Body Control

TL;DR

HUSKY introduces a physics-aware, learning-based control framework enabling humanoid robots to perform stable and agile skateboarding by modeling system dynamics and integrating motion priors.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel integrated system combining system modeling, physics-aware control, and learning-based motion priors for humanoid skateboarding.

Findings

Enables stable and agile skateboarding on a humanoid robot.

Models the coupling between skateboard tilt and steering for better control.

Demonstrates real-world performance on Unitree G1 platform.

Abstract

While current humanoid whole-body control frameworks predominantly rely on the static environment assumptions, addressing tasks characterized by high dynamism and complex interactions presents a formidable challenge. In this paper, we address humanoid skateboarding, a highly challenging task requiring stable dynamic maneuvering on an underactuated wheeled platform. This integrated system is governed by non-holonomic constraints and tightly coupled human-object interactions. Successfully executing this task requires simultaneous mastery of hybrid contact dynamics and robust balance control on a mechanically coupled, dynamically unstable skateboard. To overcome the aforementioned challenges, we propose HUSKY, a learning-based framework that integrates humanoid-skateboard system modeling and physics-aware whole-body control. We first model the coupling relationship between board tilt and truck steering angles, enabling a principled analysis of system dynamics. Building upon this, HUSKY leverages Adversarial Motion Priors (AMP) to learn human-like pushing motions and employs a physics-guided, heading-oriented strategy for lean-to-steer behaviors. Moreover, a trajectory-guided mechanism ensures smooth and stable transitions between pushing and steering. Experimental results on the Unitree G1 humanoid platform demonstrate that our framework enables stable and agile maneuvering on skateboards in real-world scenarios. The project page is available on https://husky-humanoid.github.io/.