# The Busboy Problem: Efficient Tableware Decluttering Using Consolidation and Multi-Object Grasps

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.03882 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.03882/

## Key facts

- Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 8 Jul 2023.

## Built on by (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [Stable Object Placement Planning From Contact Point Robustness](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.12483/) (2024)
- [Learning to Push, Group, and Grasp: A Diffusion Policy Approach for Multi-Object Delivery](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.08452/) (2025)
- [Generating Stable Placements via Physics-guided Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.21664/) (2025)
- [Dynamic Buffers: Cost-Efficient Planning for Tabletop Rearrangement with Stacking](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.22828/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We present the "Busboy Problem": automating an efficient decluttering of cups, bowls, and silverware from a planar surface. As grasping and transporting individual items is highly inefficient, we propose policies to generate grasps for multiple items. We introduce the metric of Objects per Trip (OpT) carried by the robot to the collection bin to analyze the improvement seen as a result of our policies. In physical experiments with singulated items, we find that consolidation and multi-object grasps resulted in an 1.8x improvement in OpT, compared to methods without multi-object grasps. See https://sites.google.com/berkeley.edu/busboyproblem for code and supplemental materials.