# Robot-GST: geometry-aware spatial-temporal robot policy representation and evaluation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.33872 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.33872/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 34 of its 38 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 27 Sep 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 34)

- [3D Gaussian Splatting for Real-Time Radiance Field Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.04079/) (2023)
- [RT-2: Vision-Language-Action Models Transfer Web Knowledge to Robotic Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.15818/) (2023)
- [OpenVLA: An Open-Source Vision-Language-Action Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.09246/) (2024)
- [Diffusion Policy: Visuomotor Policy Learning via Action Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.04137/) (2023)
- [Octo: An Open-Source Generalist Robot Policy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.12213/) (2024)
- [Code as Policies: Language Model Programs for Embodied Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.07753/) (2022)
- [4D Gaussian Splatting for Real-Time Dynamic Scene Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.08528/) (2023)
- [Inner Monologue: Embodied Reasoning through Planning with Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.05608/) (2022)
- [Dynamic 3D Gaussians: Tracking by Persistent Dynamic View Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.09713/) (2023)
- [LERF: Language Embedded Radiance Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.09553/) (2023)
- [Feature 3DGS: Supercharging 3D Gaussian Splatting to Enable Distilled Feature Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.03203/) (2023)
- [ReKep: Spatio-Temporal Reasoning of Relational Keypoint Constraints for Robotic Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.01652/) (2024)
- [π*0.6: a VLA That Learns From Experience](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.14759/) (2025)
- [GS-SLAM: Dense Visual SLAM with 3D Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.11700/) (2023)
- [RoboPoint: A Vision-Language Model for Spatial Affordance Prediction for Robotics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.10721/) (2024)
- [VR-GS: A Physical Dynamics-Aware Interactive Gaussian Splatting System in Virtual Reality](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.16663/) (2024)
- [Point-SLAM: Dense Neural Point Cloud-based SLAM](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.04278/) (2023)
- [MOKA: Open-World Robotic Manipulation through Mark-Based Visual Prompting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.03174/) (2024)
- [PhysTwin: Physics-Informed Reconstruction and Simulation of Deformable Objects from Videos](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.17973/) (2025)
- [SplatSim: Zero-Shot Sim2Real Transfer of RGB Manipulation Policies Using Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.10161/) (2024)
- [SoFar: Language-Grounded Orientation Bridges Spatial Reasoning and Object Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.13143/) (2025)
- [GraspSplats: Efficient Manipulation with 3D Feature Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.02084/) (2024)
- [GScream: Learning 3D Geometry and Feature Consistent Gaussian Splatting for Object Removal](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.13679/) (2024)
- [Vision Language Action Models in Robotic Manipulation: A Systematic Review](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.10672/) (2025)
- [Real-to-Sim Robot Policy Evaluation with Gaussian Splatting Simulation of Soft-Body Interactions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.04665/) (2025)
- [The Reality Gap in Robotics: Challenges, Solutions, and Best Practices](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.20808/) (2025)
- [ReBot: Scaling Robot Learning with Real-to-Sim-to-Real Robotic Video Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.14526/) (2025)
- [DecoupledGaussian: Object-Scene Decoupling for Physics-Based Interaction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.05484/) (2025)
- [Persistent Object Gaussian Splat (POGS) for Tracking Human and Robot Manipulation of Irregularly Shaped Objects](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.05189/) (2025)
- [REALM: A Real-to-Sim Validated Benchmark for Generalization in Robotic Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.19562/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Robotic manipulation policies are advancing rapidly with increasing reliance on vision-language models for end-to-end decision making. However, reliable deployment remains challenging because many policies lack explicit mechanisms for predicting task outcomes and evaluating whether generated actions will achieve desired final states, causing execution errors to accumulate during long-horizon manipulation. We present Robot-GST, a geometry-aware spatio-temporal behaviour representation and evaluation framework that constructs a Gaussian-SAM robotic environment for real-to-sim policy verification and improves the reliability of real-world manipulation deployment. Our approach constructs a high-fidelity robotic environment from RGB-D observations using 3D Gaussian Splatting and SAM3D, enabling ``simulation and evaluation before acting''. It integrates visual observations and language instructions with spatio-temporal reasoning for long-horizon task planning using large vision-language models. To bridge high-level planning and real-world execution, we introduce Gaussian-aware final-state estimation through geometric sampling and state-based trajectory planning. Before execution, candidate action sequences are simulated and evaluated in the Gaussian-SAM environment to filter infeasible behaviours. We validate our approach on representative manipulation tasks involving rigid, soft, and deformable objects, including cube placing, toy packing, and duck rearrangement, demonstrating that geometry-aware spatio-temporal reasoning and state-aware execution improve manipulation reliability across different object categories. Our results suggest that combining geometry-aware reconstruction with high-quality rendering and simulation provides a scalable approach for evaluating robotic manipulation behaviours. Website: https://robot-gst.github.io