# Hyper-GoalNet: Goal-Conditioned Manipulation Policy Learning with HyperNetworks

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.00085 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.00085/

## Key facts

- Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in RL for robot locomotion and manipulation, one of 15 directions in Deep reinforcement learning methods.
- Builds on 40 of its 59 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 26 Nov 2025.

## Placed in

- Deep reinforcement learning methods / [RL for robot locomotion and manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/deeprl/rl-for-robot-locomotion-and-manipulation/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 40)

- [Adam: A Method for Stochastic Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.6980/) (2014)
- [SGDR: Stochastic Gradient Descent with Warm Restarts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1608.03983/) (2016)
- [OpenVLA: An Open-Source Vision-Language-Action Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.09246/) (2024)
- [Generative Adversarial Imitation Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1606.03476/) (2016)
- [World Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1803.10122/) (2018)
- [Octo: An Open-Source Generalist Robot Policy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.12213/) (2024)
- [Meta-World: A Benchmark and Evaluation for Multi-Task and Meta Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.10897/) (2019)
- [Hindsight Experience Replay](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1707.01495/) (2017)
- [R3M: A Universal Visual Representation for Robot Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.12601/) (2022)
- [Learning Universal Policies via Text-Guided Video Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.00111/) (2023)
- [robosuite: A Modular Simulation Framework and Benchmark for Robot Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2009.12293/) (2020)
- [The Option-Critic Architecture](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1609.05140/) (2016)
- [Benchmarking Deep Reinforcement Learning for Continuous Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1604.06778/) (2016)
- [MimicGen: A Data Generation System for Scalable Robot Learning using Human Demonstrations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.17596/) (2023)
- [Learning Latent Plans from Play](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1903.01973/) (2019)
- [Behavior Transformers: Cloning k modes with one stone](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.11251/) (2022)
- [Unsupervised Learning for Physical Interaction through Video Prediction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1605.07157/) (2016)
- [Visual Reinforcement Learning with Imagined Goals](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1807.04742/) (2018)
- [NoMaD: Goal Masked Diffusion Policies for Navigation and Exploration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.07896/) (2023)
- [MimicPlay: Long-Horizon Imitation Learning by Watching Human Play](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.12422/) (2023)
- [RvS: What is Essential for Offline RL via Supervised Learning?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.10751/) (2021)
- [Goal-conditioned Imitation Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.05838/) (2019)
- [Goal-Conditioned Reinforcement Learning: Problems and Solutions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.08299/) (2022)
- [Planning with Goal-Conditioned Policies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.08453/) (2019)
- [Stochastic Neural Networks for Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1704.03012/) (2017)
- [From Play to Policy: Conditional Behavior Generation from Uncurated Robot Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.10047/) (2022)
- [Temporal Difference Models: Model-Free Deep RL for Model-Based Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.09081/) (2018)
- [Learning to Rearrange Deformable Cables, Fabrics, and Bags with Goal-Conditioned Transporter Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.03385/) (2020)
- [IGOR: Image-GOal Representations are the Atomic Control Units for Foundation Models in Embodied AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.00785/) (2024)
- [How Far I'll Go: Offline Goal-Conditioned Reinforcement Learning via f-Advantage Regression](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.03023/) (2022)

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

- [Act2Goal: From World Model To General Goal-conditioned Policy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.23541/) (2025)
- [Robotic Policy Adaptation via Weight-Space Meta-Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.07217/) (2026)
- [DISC: Decoupling Instruction from State-Conditioned Control via Policy Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.20856/) (2026)
- [Physics-informed Goal-Conditioned Reinforcement Learning under Hybrid Contact Dynamics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.30503/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Goal-conditioned policy learning for robotic manipulation presents significant challenges in maintaining performance across diverse objectives and environments. We introduce Hyper-GoalNet, a framework that generates task-specific policy network parameters from goal specifications using hypernetworks. Unlike conventional methods that simply condition fixed networks on goal-state pairs, our approach separates goal interpretation from state processing -- the former determines network parameters while the latter applies these parameters to current observations. To enhance representation quality for effective policy generation, we implement two complementary constraints on the latent space: (1) a forward dynamics model that promotes state transition predictability, and (2) a distance-based constraint ensuring monotonic progression toward goal states. We evaluate our method on a comprehensive suite of manipulation tasks with varying environmental randomization. Results demonstrate significant performance improvements over state-of-the-art methods, particularly in high-variability conditions. Real-world robotic experiments further validate our method's robustness to sensor noise and physical uncertainties. Code is available at: https://github.com/wantingyao/hyper-goalnet.