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Learn from the past: language-conditioned object rearrangement with large language models

Learn from the past: language-conditioned object rearrangement with large language models
Learn from the past: language-conditioned object rearrangement with large language models
Object manipulation for rearrangement into a specific goal state is a significant task for collaborative robots. Accurately determining object placement is a key challenge, as misalignment can increase task complexity and the risk of collisions, affecting the efficiency of the rearrangement process. Most current methods heavily rely on pre-collected datasets to train the model for predicting the goal position. As a result, these methods are restricted to specific instructions, which limits their broader applicability and generalisation. In this paper, we propose a framework of flexible language-conditioned object rearrangement based on the Large Language Model (LLM). Our approach mimics human reasoning by making use of successful past experiences as a reference to infer the best strategies to achieve a current desired goal position. Based on LLM’s strong natural language comprehension and inference ability, our method generalises to handle various everyday objects and free-form language instructions in a zero- shot manner. Experimental results demonstrate that our methods can effectively execute the robotic rearrangement tasks, even those involving long sequences of orders.
Cao, Guanqun
42588159-4476-4acc-8143-e2bca3ee0af1
Mckenna, Ryan
9993cdf3-51cb-4a92-8b4d-79cf1cd88555
Graf, Erich
1a5123e2-8f05-4084-a6e6-837dcfc66209
Oyekan, John
6f644c7c-eeb0-4abc-ade0-53a126fe769a
Cao, Guanqun
42588159-4476-4acc-8143-e2bca3ee0af1
Mckenna, Ryan
9993cdf3-51cb-4a92-8b4d-79cf1cd88555
Graf, Erich
1a5123e2-8f05-4084-a6e6-837dcfc66209
Oyekan, John
6f644c7c-eeb0-4abc-ade0-53a126fe769a

Cao, Guanqun, Mckenna, Ryan, Graf, Erich and Oyekan, John (2025) Learn from the past: language-conditioned object rearrangement with large language models. Pacific Rim International Conference on Artificial Intelligence 2025, , Wellington, New Zealand. 17 - 21 Nov 2025. 16 pp . (In Press)

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

Object manipulation for rearrangement into a specific goal state is a significant task for collaborative robots. Accurately determining object placement is a key challenge, as misalignment can increase task complexity and the risk of collisions, affecting the efficiency of the rearrangement process. Most current methods heavily rely on pre-collected datasets to train the model for predicting the goal position. As a result, these methods are restricted to specific instructions, which limits their broader applicability and generalisation. In this paper, we propose a framework of flexible language-conditioned object rearrangement based on the Large Language Model (LLM). Our approach mimics human reasoning by making use of successful past experiences as a reference to infer the best strategies to achieve a current desired goal position. Based on LLM’s strong natural language comprehension and inference ability, our method generalises to handle various everyday objects and free-form language instructions in a zero- shot manner. Experimental results demonstrate that our methods can effectively execute the robotic rearrangement tasks, even those involving long sequences of orders.

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Accepted/In Press date: 2025
Venue - Dates: Pacific Rim International Conference on Artificial Intelligence 2025, , Wellington, New Zealand, 2025-11-17 - 2025-11-21

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 505628
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/505628
PURE UUID: 924c07ef-bdfb-4566-9209-55f0e49c27f9
ORCID for Erich Graf: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3162-4233

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 15 Oct 2025 16:33
Last modified: 16 Oct 2025 01:39

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Contributors

Author: Guanqun Cao
Author: Ryan Mckenna
Author: Erich Graf ORCID iD
Author: John Oyekan

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