Revisiting the "Push-T" Robot Manipulation Task with Agentic Robotics
On the map: LLM agents and tool use → Multimodal and embodied agents
Abstract (arXiv)
Push-T is an iconic benchmark for learning manipulation policies from human demonstrations. The robot must use a single point of contact to push a T-shaped block into a target pose. In this short paper, we revisit the Push-T task in the context of emerging advances in Agentic Robotics where an LLM coding agent -- Claude Code with Fable 5 -- is prompted to create an algorithmic solution that does not require any demonstration data. We study how effective the agentic coding loop can solve the Push-T task, and compare the resulting code as policy with the visuomotor imitation learning policy. Results suggest that the agent found the 2D gym simulation online, and used sim experiments to learn push mechanics, iteratively optimizing to achieve 100% success rate using 46% fewer steps than the best diffusion policy trained with 200 human demonstrations. The coding agent also solve extensions from T to the full alphabet (Push-A to Push-Z) using a self generated curriculum and generated simulation code for the Franka and UR5 robot arms in 3D cross-embodiment simulations with visual feedback. Videos, policies and details will be posted online.
Key facts. Cited by 1 paper in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in Multimodal and embodied agents, one of 16 directions in LLM agents and tool use. Builds on 7 of its 9 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 18 Aug 2026.
Builds on
7 of 9 references.
Closest ancestors · 2
Same direction, newest first
- 2026GaP: A Graph-as-Policy Multi-Agent Self-Learning Harness For Variational Automation Tasks6 Jul
- 2026CaP-X: A Framework for Benchmarking and Improving Coding Agents for Robot Manipulation23 Mar
Other references · 5
- 2023Diffusion Policy: Visuomotor Policy Learning via Action Diffusioncited by 2,838
- 2022Code as Policies: Language Model Programs for Embodied Controlcited by 1,210
- 2021Implicit Behavioral Cloningcited by 452
- 2026Interactive World Simulator for Robot Policy Training and Evaluationcited by 31
- 2025On the Surprising Robustness of Sequential Convex Optimization for Contact-Implicit Motion Planningcited by 2
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Citing papers per year: 2026: 1.
1 paper.
Similar, not cited
Close in wording, no citation either way
- 2026RAPID: Robot Agentic Programming from Demonstrations
- 2026Encore: Few-Shot Agentic Discovery of Manipulation Strategies
- 2026EmbodiedSWE: Coding Agents for Long Horizon Dexterous Robotics
- 2026CodeActionBench: Evaluating Agentic Code-as-Policy for Embodied Manipulation
- 2023Multi-Agent Behavior Retrieval: Retrieval-Augmented Policy Training for Cooperative Push Manipulation by Mobile Robots
- 2026A Single Diffusion-Policy Controller for Multi-Task Block Pushing with Zero-Shot Sim-to-Real Transfer
- 2026Learning Coordinated Visuomotor Box-Pushing from Solo Demonstrations
- 2026Act-Observe-Rewrite: Multimodal Coding Agents as In-Context Policy Learners for Robot Manipulation