mlsanityData to 14 Oct 2026

AnySlot: Goal-Conditioned Vision-Language-Action Policies for Zero-Shot Slot-Level Placement

arXiv 2604.10432 ↗First posted 12 Apr 2026cs.ROcited by 2

On the map: Vision-language-action models → 3D and spatial-aware VLA

Abstract (arXiv)

Vision-Language-Action (VLA) policies have emerged as a versatile paradigm for generalist robotic manipulation. However, precise object placement under compositional language remains challenging for end-to-end VLA policies. Slot-level placement requires reliable slot grounding and centimeter-level geometric precision. To this end, we propose AnySlot, a framework that reduces compositional complexity by introducing an explicit spatial visual goal between language grounding and control. AnySlot converts language into a visual goal by rendering a spatial marker at the intended slot, then executes this goal with a goal-conditioned VLA policy. This hierarchical design decouples high-level slot selection from low-level execution, improving semantic accuracy and spatial robustness. Furthermore, recognizing the lack of benchmarks for such precision-demanding tasks, we introduce SlotBench, a structured simulation benchmark with nine task categories for evaluating spatial reasoning in slot-level placement. Extensive experiments show that AnySlot significantly outperforms flat VLA baselines and modular grounding methods in zero-shot slot-level placement.

Key facts. Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in 3D and spatial-aware VLA, one of 13 directions in Vision-language-action models. Builds on 41 of its 43 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 12 Apr 2026.

Builds on

41 of 43 references.

Closest ancestors · 2

Same direction, newest first

  1. 2025BridgeVLA: Input-Output Alignment for Efficient 3D Manipulation Learning with Vision-Language Models9 Jun
  2. 2025PointVLA: Injecting the 3D World into Vision-Language-Action Models10 Mar

Other references · 39

  1. 2021Learning Transferable Visual Models From Natural Language Supervisioncited by 33,744
  2. 2023RT-2: Vision-Language-Action Models Transfer Web Knowledge to Robotic Controlcited by 3,080
  3. 2024OpenVLA: An Open-Source Vision-Language-Action Modelcited by 2,887
  4. 2023Diffusion Policy: Visuomotor Policy Learning via Action Diffusioncited by 2,838
  5. 2024π0: A Vision-Language-Action Flow Model for General Robot Controlcited by 2,407
  6. 2025π0.5: a Vision-Language-Action Model with Open-World Generalizationcited by 1,761
  7. 2023Learning Fine-Grained Bimanual Manipulation with Low-Cost Hardwarecited by 1,568
  8. 2023LIBERO: Benchmarking Knowledge Transfer for Lifelong Robot Learningcited by 1,410
  9. 2024PaliGemma: A versatile 3B VLM for transfercited by 696
  10. 2024Thinking in Space: How Multimodal Large Language Models See, Remember, and Recall Spacescited by 611
  11. 2020SAPIEN: A SimulAted Part-based Interactive ENvironmentcited by 595
  12. 2021CALVIN: A Benchmark for Language-Conditioned Policy Learning for Long-Horizon Robot Manipulation Taskscited by 584
27 more
  1. 2025RoboTwin 2.0: A Scalable Data Generator and Benchmark with Strong Domain Randomization for Robust Bimanual Robotic Manipulationcited by 518
  2. 2024Evaluating Real-World Robot Manipulation Policies in Simulationcited by 495
  3. 2025AgiBot World Colosseo: A Large-scale Manipulation Platform for Scalable and Intelligent Embodied Systemscited by 405
  4. 2024Prismatic VLMs: Investigating the Design Space of Visually-Conditioned Language Modelscited by 339
  5. 2024Molmo and PixMo: Open Weights and Open Data for State-of-the-Art Vision-Language Modelscited by 329
  6. 2024RoboPoint: A Vision-Language Model for Spatial Affordance Prediction for Roboticscited by 251
  7. 2025Hi Robot: Open-Ended Instruction Following with Hierarchical Vision-Language-Action Modelscited by 221
  8. 2021Neural Descriptor Fields: SE(3)-Equivariant Object Representations for Manipulationcited by 209
  9. 2024PaliGemma 2: A Family of Versatile VLMs for Transfercited by 207
  10. 2025ThinkAct: Vision-Language-Action Reasoning via Reinforced Visual Latent Planningcited by 156
  11. 2025HAMSTER: Hierarchical Action Models For Open-World Robot Manipulationcited by 130
  12. 2025PD-VLA: Accelerating Vision-Language-Action Model Integrated with Action Chunking via Parallel Decodingcited by 88
  13. 2024RoboTwin: Dual-Arm Robot Benchmark with Generative Digital Twins (early version)cited by 69
  14. 2025SP-VLA: A Joint Model Scheduling and Token Pruning Approach for VLA Model Accelerationcited by 58
  15. 2025RoboGround: Robotic Manipulation with Grounded Vision-Language Priorscited by 51
  16. 2025Scaling Laws for Native Multimodal Modelscited by 50
  17. 2023M2T2: Multi-Task Masked Transformer for Object-centric Pick and Placecited by 41
  18. 2023KITE: Keypoint-Conditioned Policies for Semantic Manipulationcited by 39
  19. 2023D3Fields: Dynamic 3D Descriptor Fields for Zero-Shot Generalizable Rearrangementcited by 35
  20. 2025From Seeing to Doing: Bridging Reasoning and Decision for Robotic Manipulationcited by 35
  21. 2021Predicting Stable Configurations for Semantic Placement of Novel Objectscited by 24
  22. 2024Deep SE(3)-Equivariant Geometric Reasoning for Precise Placement Taskscited by 19
  23. 2025PixelVLA: Advancing Pixel-level Understanding in Vision-Language-Action Modelcited by 18
  24. 2020Task-driven Perception and Manipulation for Constrained Placement of Unknown Objectscited by 12
  25. 2024VIP: Vision Instructed Pre-training for Robotic Manipulationcited by 11
  26. 2025AnyPlace: Learning Generalized Object Placement for Robot Manipulationcited by 11
  27. 2025Slot-Level Robotic Placement via Visual Imitation from Single Human Videocited by 3

Built on by

Cited by year (2026 to 14 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2026: 2.

2 papers.

Similar, not cited

Close in wording, no citation either way

  1. 2026AnchorVLA4D: an Anchor-Based Spatial-Temporal Vision-Language-Action Model for Robotic Manipulation
  2. 2026Spa-Bench: A Real-Robot Benchmark for Spatial Grounding in Vision-Language-Action Models
  3. 2026SpaceVLA: Spatially Grounded VLA for Robotic Manipulation with User-Authored Grasp and Place Anchors
  4. 2025InternVLA-M1: A Spatially Guided Vision-Language-Action Framework for Generalist Robot Policy
  5. 2026Pointing-VLA: Typed Spatial Grounding Interfaces for Vision-Language-Action Manipulation
  6. 2025Goal-VLA: Image-Generative VLMs as Object-Centric World Models Empowering Zero-shot Robot Manipulation
  7. 2026Bridging Semantics and Kinematics: A Modular Framework for Zero-Shot Robotic Manipulation ↗
  8. 2023Energy-based Models are Zero-Shot Planners for Compositional Scene Rearrangement