mlsanityData to 14 Oct 2026

Enabling a Unified Cross-Domain Representation for Two-Finger Gripper Manipulation via Interaction-Centric Modeling

arXiv 2609.31207 ↗First posted 25 Sep 2026cs.RO cs.CVcited by 0

On the map: Offline RL and imitation learning from data → Robot manipulation imitation learning

Abstract (arXiv)

Achieving robust cross-embodiment generalization in imitation learning demands overcoming a critical representation flaw that inextricably entangles task semantics with hardware-specific visual geometry. We propose an interaction-centric framework that leverages the shared structure of two-finger grippers via a parameterized universal gripper abstraction, yielding a canonical gripper-frame representation. Given language and RGB-D observations, a VLM infers the subtask and grounds an interaction triplet (gripper, held, target), while SAM~2.1 tracks masks to reduce VLM queries. We design concise hybrid features that combine target/collision artificial potential fields for global guidance with segmented gripper-frame point clouds for local geometry, and use a Flow-Matching Transformer to predict smooth 7-DoF action chunks. Experiments in simulation and real-world tasks demonstrate that ours is the first imitation learning approach to simultaneously achieve competitive benchmark scores and extreme cross-embodiment/cross-viewpoint zero-shot sim-to-real transfer to completely distinct, heterogeneous robot platforms.

Key facts. No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in Robot manipulation imitation learning, one of 13 directions in Offline RL and imitation learning from data. Builds on 39 of its 40 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 25 Sep 2026.

Builds on

39 of 40 references.

Closest ancestors · 4

Same direction, newest first

  1. 2025SKIL: Semantic Keypoint Imitation Learning for Generalizable Data-efficient Manipulation24 Jan
  2. 2024ALOHA Unleashed: A Simple Recipe for Robot Dexterity17 Oct
  3. 2023Learning Fine-Grained Bimanual Manipulation with Low-Cost Hardware23 Apr
  4. 2022K-VIL: Keypoints-based Visual Imitation Learning7 Sep

Other references · 35

  1. 2017Attention Is All You Needcited by 60,361
  2. 2023Segment Anythingcited by 8,234
  3. 2022Flow Matching for Generative Modelingcited by 5,702
  4. 2016PointNet: Deep Learning on Point Sets for 3D Classification and Segmentationcited by 5,248
  5. 2023RT-2: Vision-Language-Action Models Transfer Web Knowledge to Robotic Controlcited by 3,080
  6. 2024OpenVLA: An Open-Source Vision-Language-Action Modelcited by 2,887
  7. 2023Diffusion Policy: Visuomotor Policy Learning via Action Diffusioncited by 2,838
  8. 2024π0: A Vision-Language-Action Flow Model for General Robot Controlcited by 2,407
  9. 2022RT-1: Robotics Transformer for Real-World Control at Scalecited by 2,061
  10. 2025π0.5: a Vision-Language-Action Model with Open-World Generalizationcited by 1,761
  11. 2024Octo: An Open-Source Generalist Robot Policycited by 1,484
  12. 2025SAM 3: Segment Anything with Conceptscited by 906
23 more
  1. 2024RDT-1B: a Diffusion Foundation Model for Bimanual Manipulationcited by 691
  2. 2025RoboTwin 2.0: A Scalable Data Generator and Benchmark with Strong Domain Randomization for Robust Bimanual Robotic Manipulationcited by 518
  3. 2018Behavioral Cloning from Observationcited by 492
  4. 2025GLM-4.5V and GLM-4.1V-Thinking: Towards Versatile Multimodal Reasoning with Scalable Reinforcement Learningcited by 466
  5. 2024Universal Manipulation Interface: In-The-Wild Robot Teaching Without In-The-Wild Robotscited by 394
  6. 2024ReKep: Spatio-Temporal Reasoning of Relational Keypoint Constraints for Robotic Manipulationcited by 315
  7. 2025X-VLA: Soft-Prompted Transformer as Scalable Cross-Embodiment Vision-Language-Action Modelcited by 303
  8. 2022AnyGrasp: Robust and Efficient Grasp Perception in Spatial and Temporal Domainscited by 208
  9. 2024Scaling Proprioceptive-Visual Learning with Heterogeneous Pre-trained Transformerscited by 148
  10. 2025UP-VLA: A Unified Understanding and Prediction Model for Embodied Agentcited by 102
  11. 2024CoPa: General Robotic Manipulation through Spatial Constraints of Parts with Foundation Modelscited by 99
  12. 2025OmniManip: Towards General Robotic Manipulation via Object-Centric Interaction Primitives as Spatial Constraintscited by 59
  13. 2017Deep Object-Centric Representations for Generalizable Robot Learningcited by 50
  14. 2025Point Policy: Unifying Observations and Actions with Key Points for Robot Manipulationcited by 47
  15. 2025ControlVLA: Few-shot Object-centric Adaptation for Pre-trained Vision-Language-Action Modelscited by 43
  16. 2024D(R,O) Grasp: A Unified Representation of Robot and Object Interaction for Cross-Embodiment Dexterous Graspingcited by 42
  17. 2024Learning Manipulation by Predicting Interactioncited by 37
  18. 2024AffordDP: Generalizable Diffusion Policy with Transferable Affordancecited by 37
  19. 2026BagelVLA: Enhancing Long-Horizon Manipulation via Interleaved Vision-Language-Action Generationcited by 30
  20. 2022Visuomotor Control in Multi-Object Scenes Using Object-Aware Representationscited by 21
  21. 2024UniDoorManip: Learning Universal Door Manipulation Policy Over Large-scale and Diverse Door Manipulation Environmentscited by 17
  22. 2022Keypoint-GraspNet: Keypoint-based 6-DoF Grasp Generation from the Monocular RGB-D inputcited by 10
  23. 2025Mask2IV: Interaction-Centric Video Generation via Mask Trajectoriescited by 10

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  1. 2026VISTA: Visually Inferred Spatial ConTact Attention for Contact-Rich Manipulation
  2. 2025MV-UMI: A Scalable Multi-View Interface for Cross-Embodiment Learning
  3. 2026UMR: Universal Manipulation Representation ↗
  4. 2026VolumeDP: Modeling Volumetric Representation for Manipulation Policy Learning
  5. 2026InterMASH: A Unified Geometric Representation for Grasp Synthesis ↗
  6. 2025RoboWheel: A Data Engine from Real-World Human Demonstrations for Cross-Embodiment Robotic Learning
  7. 2025Scaling Cross-Embodiment World Models for Dexterous Manipulation
  8. 2026MIM-VLA: Learning Physical Interaction Representations from Gripper Motor Feedback