2021/10/02 by Nathan Kau, Kau, Nathan · 1 citation
Computer Science · Engineering · #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Modular Robots and Swarm Intelligence #Robotic Locomotion and Control #Robotics (cs.RO) #Software Testing and Debugging Techniques
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2110.00736
openalex publication_date 2021/10/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We present Stanford Pupper, an easily-replicated open source quadruped robot designed specifically as a benchmark platform for legged robotics research. The robot features torque-controllable brushless motors with high specific power that enable testing of impedance and torque-based machine learning and optimization control approaches. Pupper can be built from the ground up in under 8 hours for a total cost under 2000, with all components either easily purchased or 3D printed. To rigorously compare control approaches, we introduce two benchmarks, Sprint and Scramble with a leader board maintained by Stanford Student Robotics. These benchmarks test high-speed dynamic locomotion capability, and robustness to unstructured terrain. We provide a reference controller with dynamic, omnidirectional gaits that serves as a baseline for comparison. Reproducibility is demonstrated across multiple institutions with robots made independently. All material is available at https://stanfordstudentrobotics.org/quadruped-benchmark.