Abstract
Humanoid loco-manipulation of large, heavy objects demands forceful interaction across the entire body. However, such payloads shift a humanoid's center of mass and impose sustained loads across the upper body, challenging balance and command tracking. We present HULK, a whole-body control framework for forceful loco-manipulation. Using model predictive control (MPC) to guide reinforcement learning with predictions of the loaded dynamics, we train two teachers: one tracks arm motions under wrist forces, and the other locomotes while holding large objects against the body. A capture-point control barrier function augments the wrist-force teacher during training to improve balance under load. We distill both teachers into a single policy. Evaluation spans simulation and the Unitree G1. In simulation, the teacher with the barrier function achieves the lowest forward and lateral velocity tracking errors at 10 kg per arm among evaluated controllers and reduces aggregate divergent component of motion (DCM) excursion magnitude by 35.7% relative to MPC-guided reinforcement learning alone. Our wrist-force teacher withstands torso push disturbances of up to 130 N.
Keywords
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Cite this article
APA 7
Dang, A., Alvarez, A. F., Chen, Y. M., Gartoll, C. M., Sun, H., Ames, A., Fazeli, N., & Nambi, M. (2026). HULK: Learning Whole-Body Forceful Loco-Manipulation for Humanoids. https://omanscience.com/en/articles/hulk-learning-whole-body-forceful-loco-manipulation-for-humanoids
MLA 9
Dang, An, et al. "HULK: Learning Whole-Body Forceful Loco-Manipulation for Humanoids." https://omanscience.com/en/articles/hulk-learning-whole-body-forceful-loco-manipulation-for-humanoids.
Chicago (author–date)
Dang, An, Arturo Flores Alvarez, Yu-Ming Chen, Conor Mc Gartoll, Helen Sun, Aaron Ames, Nima Fazeli, and Manikantan Nambi. 2026. "HULK: Learning Whole-Body Forceful Loco-Manipulation for Humanoids." https://omanscience.com/en/articles/hulk-learning-whole-body-forceful-loco-manipulation-for-humanoids.
Harvard
Dang, A., Alvarez, A. F., Chen, Y. M., Gartoll, C. M., Sun, H., Ames, A., Fazeli, N. and Nambi, M. (2026) 'HULK: Learning Whole-Body Forceful Loco-Manipulation for Humanoids', Available at: https://omanscience.com/en/articles/hulk-learning-whole-body-forceful-loco-manipulation-for-humanoids.
Vancouver
Dang A, Alvarez AF, Chen YM, Gartoll CM, Sun H, Ames A, et al. HULK: Learning Whole-Body Forceful Loco-Manipulation for Humanoids. https://omanscience.com/en/articles/hulk-learning-whole-body-forceful-loco-manipulation-for-humanoids
IEEE
A. Dang, A. F. Alvarez, Y. M. Chen, C. M. Gartoll, H. Sun, A. Ames, N. Fazeli, and M. Nambi, "HULK: Learning Whole-Body Forceful Loco-Manipulation for Humanoids," https://omanscience.com/en/articles/hulk-learning-whole-body-forceful-loco-manipulation-for-humanoids.