upkie/upkie

What it solves

Upkie provides an open-source hardware and software platform for wheeled biped robots. It addresses the challenge of creating accessible, buildable robots that can balance themselves and navigate uneven terrain by combining wheels for mobility and legs for adaptability.

How it works

The project consists of a hardware design buildable with off-the-shelf components (like mjbots actuators) and a software library written in Python and C++. It uses a Raspberry Pi for on-robot deployment. The software includes Gymnasium environments, allowing developers to write control code that works identically in both PyBullet simulations and on the physical robot.

Who it’s for

It is designed for robotics researchers, developers, and hobbyists who want to build, simulate, and deploy behaviors for wheeled bipedal robots.

Highlights

• Unified Control: Use the same code for simulation and real-world deployment via Gymnasium environments.
• Open Hardware: Designed to be built using standard tools and off-the-shelf components.
• Simulation Support: Integrated support for PyBullet and GPU-accelerated playgrounds for training policies.
• Flexible Development: Supports both Python and C++ for behavior creation.