One-shot Video Imitation via Parameterized Symbolic Abstraction Graphs

In Submission

Jianren Wang         Kangni Liu         Dingkun Guo         Zhou Xian         Christopher G. Atkeson
Carnegie Mellon University


Abstract

Learning to manipulate dynamic and deformable objects from a single demonstration video holds great promise in terms of scalability. Previous approaches have predominantly focused on either replaying object relationships or actor trajectories. The former often struggles to generalize across diverse tasks, while the latter suffers from data inefficiency. Moreover, both methodologies encounter challenges in capturing invisible physical attributes, such as forces. In this paper, we propose to interpret video demonstrations through Parameterized Symbolic Abstraction Graphs (PSAG), where nodes represent objects and edges denote relationships between objects. We further ground geometric constraints through simulation to estimate non-geometric, visually imperceptible attributes. The augmented PSAG is then applied in real robot experiments. Our approach has been validated across a range of tasks, such as Cutting Avocado, Cutting Vegetable, Pouring Liquid, Rolling Dough, and Slicing Pizza. We demonstrate successful generalization to novel objects with distinct visual and physical properties.

Method


Overview of our pipeline for learning from videos. (a) Building Parameterized Symbolic Abstraction Graphs (PSAG): PSAGs are generated by instance segmentation, consistent video depth estimation, and object relationship calculation. (b) Learning to Simulate: Constructing digital twin to ground geometric constraints via trajectory optimization (c) PSAG-to-Real Transfer using hybrid motion-force control.

Setting


Experiment Settings(a) Robot arm with an avocado holder and another arm with a knife and force sensor.(b) Robot arm and cups for the pouring task. (c) Rolling pin mounted on the robot arm for rolling dough.(d) Slicer affixed to the robot arm for slicing pizza.(e) Knife mounted on the robot arm for cutting vegetables. (f) Multi-camera system. (g) Cups, yogurt, Coke, and water for the pouring task. (h, i) Dough, play sand, and play dough for the rolling dough and slicing pizza experiments. (j) Cucumber, tomato, and banana for the cutting vegetables task.

Experiment Videos