{"id":"https://openalex.org/W4410852497","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/lra.2025.3575011","title":"What Matters in Learning a Zero-Shot Sim-to-Real RL Policy for Quadrotor Control? A Comprehensive Study","display_name":"What Matters in Learning a Zero-Shot Sim-to-Real RL Policy for Quadrotor Control? A Comprehensive Study","publication_year":2025,"publication_date":"2025-05-29","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W4410852497","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/lra.2025.3575011"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1109/lra.2025.3575011","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/lra.2025.3575011","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4210169774","display_name":"IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters","issn_l":"2377-3766","issn":["2377-3766"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319808","host_organization_name":"Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"hybrid","oa_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/lra.2025.3575011","any_repository_has_fulltext":false},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5100380044","display_name":"Jiayu Chen","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9472-3872"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I99065089","display_name":"Tsinghua University","ror":"https://ror.org/03cve4549","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Jiayu Chen","raw_affiliation_strings":["Tsinghua University, Beijing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9472-3872","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Tsinghua University, Beijing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5011646653","display_name":"Chao Yu","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6975-0158"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I99065089","display_name":"Tsinghua University","ror":"https://ror.org/03cve4549","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Chao Yu","raw_affiliation_strings":["Tsinghua University, Beijing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6975-0158","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Tsinghua University, Beijing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5090849353","display_name":"Yuqing Xie","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0445-905X"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I99065089","display_name":"Tsinghua University","ror":"https://ror.org/03cve4549","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Yuqing Xie","raw_affiliation_strings":["Tsinghua University, Beijing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0445-905X","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Tsinghua University, Beijing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5080013325","display_name":"Feng Gao","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7374-9491"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I99065089","display_name":"Tsinghua University","ror":"https://ror.org/03cve4549","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Feng Gao","raw_affiliation_strings":["Tsinghua University, Beijing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7374-9491","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Tsinghua University, Beijing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5026727299","display_name":"Yinuo Chen","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0003-4877-0370"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I99065089","display_name":"Tsinghua University","ror":"https://ror.org/03cve4549","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Yinuo Chen","raw_affiliation_strings":["Tsinghua University, Beijing, China"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Tsinghua University, Beijing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5104253462","display_name":"Shu'ang Yu","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I99065089","display_name":"Tsinghua University","ror":"https://ror.org/03cve4549","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Shu'ang Yu","raw_affiliation_strings":["Tsinghua University, Beijing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7398-9097","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Tsinghua University, Beijing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":null,"display_name":"Wenhao Tang","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0003-4126-2269"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I4210114105","display_name":"Tsinghua\u2013Berkeley Shenzhen Institute","ror":"https://ror.org/02hhwwz98","country_code":"CN","type":"facility","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I4210114105","https://openalex.org/I95457486","https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Wenhao Tang","raw_affiliation_strings":["Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Shenzhen, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0003-4126-2269","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Shenzhen, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I4210114105"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5112743737","display_name":"Shilong Ji","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0113-0485"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I99065089","display_name":"Tsinghua University","ror":"https://ror.org/03cve4549","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Shilong Ji","raw_affiliation_strings":["Tsinghua University, Beijing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0113-0485","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Tsinghua University, Beijing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5115505749","display_name":"Mo Mu","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I99065089","display_name":"Tsinghua University","ror":"https://ror.org/03cve4549","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Mo Mu","raw_affiliation_strings":["Tsinghua University, Beijing, China"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Tsinghua University, Beijing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5100668103","display_name":"Yi Wu","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9057-5817"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I99065089","display_name":"Tsinghua University","ror":"https://ror.org/03cve4549","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Yi Wu","raw_affiliation_strings":["Tsinghua University, Beijing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9057-5817","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Tsinghua University, Beijing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5023755254","display_name":"Huazhong Yang","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2421-353X"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I99065089","display_name":"Tsinghua University","ror":"https://ror.org/03cve4549","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Huazhong Yang","raw_affiliation_strings":["Tsinghua University, Beijing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2421-353X","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Tsinghua University, Beijing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5100445061","display_name":"Yu Wang","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6108-5157"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I99065089","display_name":"Tsinghua University","ror":"https://ror.org/03cve4549","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Yu Wang","raw_affiliation_strings":["Tsinghua University, Beijing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6108-5157","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Tsinghua University, Beijing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":1,"institutions_distinct_count":12,"corresponding_author_ids":["https://openalex.org/A5100380044"],"corresponding_institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I99065089"],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":4.3163,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":4,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.94129047,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":true},"cited_by_percentile_year":{"min":96,"max":98},"biblio":{"volume":"10","issue":"7","first_page":"7134","last_page":"7141"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10917","display_name":"Smart Grid Security and Resilience","score":0.9757999777793884,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2207","display_name":"Control and Systems Engineering"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/22","display_name":"Engineering"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10917","display_name":"Smart Grid Security and Resilience","score":0.9757999777793884,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2207","display_name":"Control and Systems Engineering"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/22","display_name":"Engineering"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10305","display_name":"Power System Optimization and Stability","score":0.927299976348877,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2208","display_name":"Electrical and Electronic Engineering"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/22","display_name":"Engineering"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/zero","display_name":"Zero (linguistics)","score":0.7738369703292847},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/shot","display_name":"Shot (pellet)","score":0.7284980416297913},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/control","display_name":"Control (management)","score":0.5707507729530334},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/one-shot","display_name":"One shot","score":0.474855899810791},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-science","display_name":"Computer science","score":0.4286995530128479},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/artificial-intelligence","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","score":0.3333718180656433},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/political-science","display_name":"Political science","score":0.32527124881744385},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/engineering","display_name":"Engineering","score":0.2674681544303894},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/philosophy","display_name":"Philosophy","score":0.10352462530136108},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/materials-science","display_name":"Materials science","score":0.07942882180213928},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/mechanical-engineering","display_name":"Mechanical engineering","score":0.07856646180152893}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780813799","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3274237","display_name":"Zero (linguistics)","level":2,"score":0.7738369703292847},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2778344882","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q278938","display_name":"Shot (pellet)","level":2,"score":0.7284980416297913},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2775924081","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q55608371","display_name":"Control (management)","level":2,"score":0.5707507729530334},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2992734406","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q413267","display_name":"One shot","level":2,"score":0.474855899810791},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.4286995530128479},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.3333718180656433},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C17744445","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q36442","display_name":"Political science","level":0,"score":0.32527124881744385},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C127413603","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11023","display_name":"Engineering","level":0,"score":0.2674681544303894},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C138885662","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5891","display_name":"Philosophy","level":0,"score":0.10352462530136108},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C192562407","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q228736","display_name":"Materials science","level":0,"score":0.07942882180213928},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C78519656","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q101333","display_name":"Mechanical engineering","level":1,"score":0.07856646180152893},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C191897082","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11467","display_name":"Metallurgy","level":1,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41895202","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8162","display_name":"Linguistics","level":1,"score":0.0}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1109/lra.2025.3575011","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/lra.2025.3575011","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4210169774","display_name":"IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters","issn_l":"2377-3766","issn":["2377-3766"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319808","host_organization_name":"Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters","raw_type":"journal-article"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.1109/lra.2025.3575011","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/lra.2025.3575011","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4210169774","display_name":"IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters","issn_l":"2377-3766","issn":["2377-3766"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319808","host_organization_name":"Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters","raw_type":"journal-article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/G2045798616","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"62325405","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320321001","funder_display_name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/G5811851265","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"62406159","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320321001","funder_display_name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/G8583944549","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"2024T170496","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320321543","funder_display_name":"China Postdoctoral Science Foundation"}],"funders":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320321001","display_name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","ror":"https://ror.org/01h0zpd94"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320321543","display_name":"China Postdoctoral Science Foundation","ror":"https://ror.org/0426zh255"}],"has_content":{"pdf":false,"grobid_xml":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":37,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W1731081199","https://openalex.org/W2006433700","https://openalex.org/W2060303868","https://openalex.org/W2146468668","https://openalex.org/W2162991084","https://openalex.org/W2465948386","https://openalex.org/W2584009249","https://openalex.org/W2605102758","https://openalex.org/W2615547864","https://openalex.org/W2733312032","https://openalex.org/W2738778707","https://openalex.org/W2769498435","https://openalex.org/W2772589676","https://openalex.org/W2949924544","https://openalex.org/W2951360122","https://openalex.org/W2963201472","https://openalex.org/W2963689432","https://openalex.org/W2982095652","https://openalex.org/W2990747716","https://openalex.org/W3003669699","https://openalex.org/W3037483238","https://openalex.org/W3177010373","https://openalex.org/W3205260198","https://openalex.org/W3217056046","https://openalex.org/W4206742276","https://openalex.org/W4214730142","https://openalex.org/W4285102199","https://openalex.org/W4312992339","https://openalex.org/W4366492958","https://openalex.org/W4383109238","https://openalex.org/W4386285856","https://openalex.org/W4391019623","https://openalex.org/W4396542455","https://openalex.org/W4405778926","https://openalex.org/W4410640239","https://openalex.org/W6683633756","https://openalex.org/W6858097324"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W2497720472","https://openalex.org/W4292659306","https://openalex.org/W3044321615","https://openalex.org/W2806221744","https://openalex.org/W2326937258","https://openalex.org/W394267150","https://openalex.org/W2773965352","https://openalex.org/W4294892107","https://openalex.org/W2357748469","https://openalex.org/W2392917037"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Precise":[0],"and":[1,45,84,110,161,179,190,194],"agile":[2],"flight":[3],"maneuvers":[4],"are":[5,14],"essential":[6],"for":[7,70,101],"quadrotor":[8,139],"applications,":[9],"yet":[10],"traditional":[11],"control":[12,74],"methods":[13,173],"limited":[15],"by":[16,34,147],"their":[17],"reliance":[18],"on":[19,42,119,136,167],"flat":[20],"trajectories":[21],"or":[22],"computationally":[23],"intensive":[24],"optimization.":[25],"Reinforcement":[26],"learning":[27,71],"(RL)-based":[28],"policies":[29,75],"offer":[30],"a":[31,53,127],"promising":[32],"alternative":[33],"directly":[35],"mapping":[36],"observations":[37],"to":[38,151],"actions,":[39],"reducing":[40],"dependency":[41],"system":[43,105],"knowledge":[44],"actuation":[46],"constraints.":[47],"However,":[48],"the":[49,137,186],"sim-to-real":[50],"gap":[51],"remains":[52],"significant":[54],"challenge,":[55],"often":[56,174],"causing":[57],"instability":[58],"in":[59,157],"real-world":[60,79],"deployments.":[61],"In":[62],"this":[63],"work,":[64],"we":[65,122,182],"identify":[66],"five":[67],"key":[68],"factors":[69],"robust":[72],"RL-based":[73],"capable":[76],"of":[77],"zero-shot":[78],"deployment:":[80],"(1)":[81],"integrating":[82],"velocity":[83],"rotation":[85],"matrix":[86],"into":[87,94,185],"actor":[88],"inputs,":[89,96],"(2)":[90],"incorporating":[91],"time":[92],"vector":[93],"critic":[95],"(3)":[97],"regularizing":[98],"action":[99],"differences":[100],"smoothness,":[102],"(4)":[103],"applying":[104],"identification":[106],"with":[107],"selective":[108],"randomization,":[109],"(5)":[111],"using":[112],"large":[113],"batch":[114],"sizes":[115],"during":[116],"training.":[117],"Based":[118],"these":[120,132],"insights,":[121],"develop":[123],"<italic":[124],"xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\"":[125,206],"xmlns:xlink=\"http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink\">SimpleFlight</i>,":[126],"PPO-based":[128],"framework":[129],"that":[130,141],"integrates":[131],"techniques.":[133],"Extensive":[134],"experiments":[135],"Crazyflie":[138],"demonstrate":[140],"SimpleFlight":[142,184],"reduces":[143],"trajectory":[144],"tracking":[145],"error":[146],"over":[148],"50%":[149],"compared":[150],"state-of-the-art":[152],"RL":[153],"baselines.":[154],"It":[155],"excels":[156],"both":[158],"smooth":[159],"polynomial":[160],"challenging":[162],"infeasible":[163],"zigzag":[164],"trajectories,":[165],"particularly":[166],"small":[168],"thrust-to-weight":[169],"quadrotors,":[170],"where":[171],"baseline":[172],"fail.":[175],"To":[176],"enhance":[177],"reproducibility":[178],"further":[180],"research,":[181],"integrate":[183],"GPU-based":[187],"Omnidrones":[188],"simulator":[189],"provide":[191],"open-source":[192],"code":[193],"model":[195],"checkpoints.":[196],"For":[197],"more":[198],"details,":[199],"visit":[200],"our":[201],"project":[202],"website":[203],"at":[204],"<uri":[205],"xmlns:xlink=\"http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink\">https://sites.google.com/view/simpleflight/</uri>.":[207]},"counts_by_year":[{"year":2026,"cited_by_count":1},{"year":2025,"cited_by_count":3}],"updated_date":"2026-05-03T08:25:01.440150","created_date":"2025-10-10T00:00:00"}