Hiking in the Wild: A Scalable Perceptive Parkour Framework for Humanoids

Read full text
Authors: Shaoting Zhu, Ziwen Zhuang, Mengjie Zhao, Kun-Ying Lee, Hang Zhao
Cited by: 0

Abstract

Achieving robust humanoid locomotion in complex, unstructured environments requires transitioning from reactive proprioception to proactive perception. However, integrating exteroception remains a significant challenge: existing approaches often fail to achieve high-speed, stable locomotion across diverse, unstructured terrains. In this work, we present Hiking in the Wild, an extensible, end-to-end perceptive legged parkour framework designed for robust humanoid hiking. Our approach maps depth inputs and proprioception directly to joint actions, without relying on external localization and mapping. To ensure safety and training stability, we introduce two key mechanisms: a foothold safety mechanism combining extensible Terrain Edge Detection with Foot Volume Points to reduce catastrophic slippage on edges, and a Flat Patch Sampling strategy that mitigates reward hacking by generating feasible navigation targets. Extensive experiments on the Unitree G1 humanoid robot demonstrate that our policy enables robust traversal of complex terrains at speeds up to 2.5 m/s.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Robotic Locomotion and Control Reinforcement Learning in Robotics Robotics and Sensor-Based Localization

Publication details

Journal / source
arXiv (Cornell University)
Publication date
12 January 2026
Document type
Preprint