mlsanityData to 7 Oct 2026

A Survey of Behavior Trees in Robotics and AI

arXiv 2005.05842 ↗First posted 12 May 2020cs.RO cs.AIcited by 53

Not on the map. Why?

Abstract (arXiv)

Behavior Trees (BTs) were invented as a tool to enable modular AI in computer games, but have received an increasing amount of attention in the robotics community in the last decade. With rising demands on agent AI complexity, game programmers found that the Finite State Machines (FSM) that they used scaled poorly and were difficult to extend, adapt and reuse. In BTs, the state transition logic is not dispersed across the individual states, but organized in a hierarchical tree structure, with the states as leaves. This has a significant effect on modularity, which in turn simplifies both synthesis and analysis by humans and algorithms alike. These advantages are needed not only in game AI design, but also in robotics, as is evident from the research being done. In this paper we present a comprehensive survey of the topic of BTs in Artificial Intelligence and Robotic applications. The existing literature is described and categorized based on methods, application areas and contributions, and the paper is concluded with a list of open research challenges.

Key facts. Cited by 53 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). First posted on arXiv 12 May 2020.

Builds on

No reference list yet.

Built on by

Cited by year (2026 to 7 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2021: 5; 2022: 6; 2023: 7; 2024: 14; 2025: 8; 2026: 13.

53 papers.

Sort:

By area:

  1. 2024A Survey on Large Language Model-Based Game Agentscited by 106
  2. 2024ROS-LLM: A ROS framework for embodied AI with task feedback and structured reasoningcited by 27
  3. 2023Robot Behavior-Tree-Based Task Generation with Large Language Modelscited by 22
  4. 2022Behavior Trees in Robot Control Systemscited by 13
  5. 2023Learning Hierarchical Interactive Multi-Object Search for Mobile Manipulationcited by 12
  6. 2021Combining Planning and Learning of Behavior Trees for Robotic Assemblycited by 9
  7. 2024Autonomous Behavior Planning For Humanoid Loco-manipulation Through Grounded Language Modelcited by 8
  8. 2024LogiCity: Advancing Neuro-Symbolic AI with Abstract Urban Simulationcited by 8
  9. 2021An expressiveness hierarchy of Behavior Trees and related architecturescited by 6
  10. 2022Subgoal-Based Explanations for Unreliable Intelligent Decision Support Systemscited by 6
  11. 2022KT-BT: A Framework for Knowledge Transfer Through Behavior Trees in Multi-Robot Systemscited by 6
  12. 2025TRIFFID: Autonomous Robotic Aid For Increasing First Responders Efficiencycited by 5
38 more
  1. 2023SkiROS2: A skill-based Robot Control Platform for ROScited by 4
  2. 2024A Study on Training and Developing Large Language Models for Behavior Tree Generationcited by 4
  3. 2025A Unified Framework for Real-Time Failure Handling in Robotics Using Vision-Language Models, Reactive Planner and Behavior Treescited by 4
  4. 2021Continuous-Time Behavior Trees as Discontinuous Dynamical Systemscited by 3
  5. 2021Learning of Parameters in Behavior Trees for Movement Skillscited by 3
  6. 2024BVR Gym: A Reinforcement Learning Environment for Beyond-Visual-Range Air Combatcited by 3
  7. 2024A survey of air combat behavior modeling using machine learningcited by 3
  8. 2024HARMONIC: A Framework for Explanatory Cognitive Robotscited by 3
  9. 2025RoboNeuron: A Middle-Layer Infrastructure for Agent-Driven Orchestration in Embodied AIcited by 3
  10. 2026WorldMind: Decoupled Game World Model for State-Aware NPC Behaviorcited by 3
  11. 2021Procedural Content Generation using Behavior Trees (PCGBT)cited by 2
  12. 2022EvolvingBehavior: Towards Co-Creative Evolution of Behavior Trees for Game NPCscited by 2
  13. 2022ECSAS: Exploring Critical Scenarios from Action Sequence in Autonomous Drivingcited by 2
  14. 2023When Prolog meets generative models: a new approach for managing knowledge and planning in robotic applicationscited by 2
  15. 2024The Future of Intelligent Healthcare: A Systematic Analysis and Discussion on the Integration and Impact of Robots Using Large Language Models for Healthcarecited by 2
  16. 2025Vision-Language-Policy Model for Dynamic Robot Task Planningcited by 2
  17. 2026Multimodal Behavior Tree Generation: A Small Vision-Language Model for Robot Task Planningcited by 2
  18. 2026EmbodiedSkills: A Unified Framework for Orchestrating, Training, and Deploying VLA Agentscited by 2
  19. 2022Behaviour Trees for Creating Conversational Explanation Experiencescited by 1
  20. 2023An Extended Convergence Result for Behaviour Tree Controllerscited by 1
  21. 2023Using Knowledge Representation and Task Planning for Robot-agnostic Skills on the Example of Contact-Rich Wiping Taskscited by 1
  22. 2024Temporal and Semantic Evaluation Metrics for Foundation Models in Post-Hoc Analysis of Robotic Sub-taskscited by 1
  23. 2024Adaptable Recovery Behaviors in Robotics: A Behavior Trees and Motion Generators(BTMG) Approach for Failure Managementcited by 1
  24. 2024Adaptive Manipulation using Behavior Treescited by 1
  25. 2023Mastering Asymmetrical Multiplayer Game with Multi-Agent Asymmetric-Evolution Reinforcement Learningcited by 0
  26. 2024CoBOS: Constraint-Based Online Scheduler for Human-Robot Collaborationcited by 0
  27. 2024Execution Semantics of Behavior Trees in Robotic Applicationscited by 0
  28. 2025Intelligent Framework for Human-Robot Collaboration: Dynamic Ergonomics and Adaptive Decision-Makingcited by 0
  29. 2025Robot guide with multi-agent control and automatic scenario generation with LLMcited by 0
  30. 2025An integrated process for design and control of lunar robotics using AI and simulationcited by 0
  31. 2025A Concept of Possibility for Real-World Eventscited by 0
  32. 2026Progress Constraints for Reinforcement Learning in Behavior Treescited by 0
  33. 2026Learning Structured Robot Policies from Vision-Language Models via Synthetic Neuro-Symbolic Supervisioncited by 0
  34. 2026A Glimpse into Long-term Physical Coexistence with Intelligent Robotscited by 0
  35. 2026Contract-Grounded Behavior Tree Synthesis via Coding Agentscited by 0
  36. 2026Why Are GUI Agents Correct but Late? Decode on the Decision-Time Critical Path, Tested with Pre-Compiled Policy Treescited by 0
  37. 2026CEAA: A Cognitive Embodied Agents Architecture for Interactive Computing Systemscited by 0
  38. 2026LG-VLN: A Zero-Shot Vision-and-Language Navigation Framework with LangGraph State Orchestrationcited by 0

50 most cited of 53 All 53 (JSON)