mlsanityData to 14 Oct 2026

Behavior Trees in Robotics and AI: An Introduction

arXiv 1709.00084 ↗First posted 31 Aug 2017cs.RO cs.AIcited by 107

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Abstract (arXiv)

A Behavior Tree (BT) is a way to structure the switching between different tasks in an autonomous agent, such as a robot or a virtual entity in a computer game. BTs are a very efficient way of creating complex systems that are both modular and reactive. These properties are crucial in many applications, which has led to the spread of BT from computer game programming to many branches of AI and Robotics. In this book, we will first give an introduction to BTs, then we describe how BTs relate to, and in many cases generalize, earlier switching structures. These ideas are then used as a foundation for a set of efficient and easy to use design principles. Properties such as safety, robustness, and efficiency are important for an autonomous system, and we describe a set of tools for formally analyzing these using a state space description of BTs. With the new analysis tools, we can formalize the descriptions of how BTs generalize earlier approaches. We also show the use of BTs in automated planning and machine learning. Finally, we describe an extended set of tools to capture the behavior of Stochastic BTs, where the outcomes of actions are described by probabilities. These tools enable the computation of both success probabilities and time to completion.

Key facts. Cited by 107 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). First posted on arXiv 31 Aug 2017.

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Cited by year (2026 to 14 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2021: 11; 2022: 11; 2023: 10; 2024: 23; 2025: 21; 2026: 31.

107 papers.

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  1. 2023Multi-Stage Cable Routing through Hierarchical Imitation Learningcited by 60
  2. 2023Principles and Guidelines for Evaluating Social Robot Navigation Algorithmscited by 56
  3. 2026GraSP: Graph-Structured Skill Compositions for LLM Agentscited by 26
  4. 2022Combining Evolution and Deep Reinforcement Learning for Policy Search: a Surveycited by 23
  5. 2021Bayesian Controller Fusion: Leveraging Control Priors in Deep Reinforcement Learning for Roboticscited by 20
  6. 2023LLM-MARS: Large Language Model for Behavior Tree Generation and NLP-enhanced Dialogue in Multi-Agent Robot Systemscited by 18
  7. 2022Behavior Trees in Robot Control Systemscited by 13
  8. 2026AI Agent Systems: Architectures, Applications, and Evaluationcited by 13
  9. 2023HOI4ABOT: Human-Object Interaction Anticipation for Human Intention Reading Collaborative roBOTscited by 12
  10. 2024Integrating Intent Understanding and Optimal Behavior Planning for Behavior Tree Generation from Human Instructionscited by 12
  11. 2022Skill-based Multi-objective Reinforcement Learning of Industrial Robot Tasks with Planning and Knowledge Integrationcited by 10
  12. 2021Combining Planning and Learning of Behavior Trees for Robotic Assemblycited by 9
38 more
  1. 2024Affordable Generative Agentscited by 9
  2. 2025Agents Play Thousands of 3D Video Gamescited by 9
  3. 2025A Comprehensive Review of Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning in Video Gamescited by 9
  4. 2024Autonomous Behavior Planning For Humanoid Loco-manipulation Through Grounded Language Modelcited by 8
  5. 2024LogiCity: Advancing Neuro-Symbolic AI with Abstract Urban Simulationcited by 8
  6. 2024HYPERmotion: Learning Hybrid Behavior Planning for Autonomous Loco-manipulationcited by 7
  7. 2025FEAST: A Flexible Mealtime-Assistance System Towards In-the-Wild Personalizationcited by 7
  8. 2026AEROS: A Single-Agent Operating Architecture with Embodied Capability Modulescited by 7
  9. 2021An expressiveness hierarchy of Behavior Trees and related architecturescited by 6
  10. 2021PlanSys2: A Planning System Framework for ROS2cited by 6
  11. 2022KT-BT: A Framework for Knowledge Transfer Through Behavior Trees in Multi-Robot Systemscited by 6
  12. 2021Learning and Executing Re-usable Behaviour Trees from Natural Language Instructioncited by 5
  13. 2023Designing Behavior Trees from Goal-Oriented LTLf Formulascited by 5
  14. 2022Supervised Machine Learning for Effective Missile Launch Based on Beyond Visual Range Air Combat Simulationscited by 4
  15. 2023SkiROS2: A skill-based Robot Control Platform for ROScited by 4
  16. 2024A Study on Training and Developing Large Language Models for Behavior Tree Generationcited by 4
  17. 2024HBTP: Heuristic Behavior Tree Planning with Large Language Model Reasoningcited by 4
  18. 2024Designing Robust Cyber-Defense Agents with Evolving Behavior Treescited by 4
  19. 2024Harnessing Language for Coordination: A Framework and Benchmark for LLM-Driven Multi-Agent Controlcited by 4
  20. 2025A Unified Framework for Real-Time Failure Handling in Robotics Using Vision-Language Models, Reactive Planner and Behavior Treescited by 4
  21. 2021An Integrated Dynamic Method for Allocating Roles and Planning Tasks for Mixed Human-Robot Teamscited by 3
  22. 2022Variational Meta Reinforcement Learning for Social Roboticscited by 3
  23. 2024BVR Gym: A Reinforcement Learning Environment for Beyond-Visual-Range Air Combatcited by 3
  24. 2024Tell me more: Intent Fulfilment Framework for Enhancing User Experiences in Conversational XAIcited by 3
  25. 2024HARMONIC: A Framework for Explanatory Cognitive Robotscited by 3
  26. 2024Out-of-Distribution Detection for Neurosymbolic Autonomous Cyber Agentscited by 3
  27. 2025ADAPT: An Autonomous Forklift for Construction Site Operationcited by 3
  28. 2025EvoCurr: Self-evolving Curriculum with Behavior Code Generation for Complex Decision-makingcited by 3
  29. 2026ROSClaw: An OpenClaw ROS 2 Framework for Agentic Robot Control and Interactioncited by 3
  30. 2026WorldMind: Decoupled Game World Model for State-Aware NPC Behaviorcited by 3
  31. 2021Procedural Content Generation using Behavior Trees (PCGBT)cited by 2
  32. 2022Verifying Safety of Behaviour Trees in Event-Bcited by 2
  33. 2024HARMONIC: Cognitive and Control Collaboration in Human-Robotic Teamscited by 2
  34. 2025MRBTP: Efficient Multi-Robot Behavior Tree Planning and Collaborationcited by 2
  35. 2025Hierarchical Language Models for Semantic Navigation and Manipulation in an Aerial-Ground Robotic Systemcited by 2
  36. 2025Vision-Language-Policy Model for Dynamic Robot Task Planningcited by 2
  37. 2026Multimodal Behavior Tree Generation: A Small Vision-Language Model for Robot Task Planningcited by 2
  38. 2026ECM Contracts: Contract-Aware, Versioned, and Governable Capability Interfaces for Embodied Agentscited by 2

50 most cited of 107 All 107 (JSON)