AI ResearchJul 30, 2026, 5:59 PM

PAC-MAN: Perception-Aware CBF-RL for Whole-Body Safety in Humanoid Dodgeball

30-second summary

Researchers introduce PAC-MAN, a framework for safe humanoid dodgeball using perception-aware control-barrier function reinforcement learning. The system enables robots to dodge balls using real-time sensing and adversarial motion prior.

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Key takeaways
  • PAC-MAN is a perception-aware CBF-RL framework for whole-body safety in humanoid dodgeball
  • The system uses real-time sensing from a head-mounted camera to detect the ball
  • An adversarial motion prior is used to regularize the resulting evasive reflexes
  • The framework is evaluated on a controlled benchmark with seeded throws
Full story

The PAC-MAN framework is designed to ensure whole-body safety in humanoid dodgeball. It uses a head-mounted camera to detect the ball and calculate clearance to every body link.

The system is trained using control-barrier function reinforcement learning, which couples control-barrier safety with deployment-realistic onboard sensing. An adversarial motion prior is used to regularize the resulting evasive reflexes.

The framework is evaluated on a controlled benchmark with seeded throws in two regimes: single throws and a deployment loop. In the deployment loop, the robot walks back to its station and recovers after each throw.

The PAC-MAN framework has potential applications in robotics and AI, particularly in areas where safety and real-time sensing are critical.

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Why this matters
Everyone

Advances safety in robotics and AI

Glossary
CBF-RL
Control-barrier function reinforcement learning
Sources · 1
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