Vision-Language Grounded Task-Context-Aware Imitation Learning for Robotic Disassembly


Jeon Ho Kang
Igal Tamarkin
Ethan Niu
Ian Novales
Satyandra K. Gupta
University of Southern California

Paper (Coming Soon)

Code (Coming Soon)

Abstract

Real-world robotic disassembly requires long-horizon execution, where robots must perform ordered sequences of manipulation tasks across multiple parts within a single scene. Multiple valid task goals and diverse assembly configurations make it difficult for imitation policies to infer the intended skill from raw observations alone, particularly when training data cannot cover the combinatorial diversity of real-world configurations and part geometries. We show that incorporating task context through language alleviates these challenges by providing explicit structure for skill selection and associating language-specified tasks with their corresponding manipulation targets in the visual scene. The proposed framework combines hierarchical task selection with task-context-aware imitation learning to ground language instructions in spatial visual representations for robotic disassembly. The resulting framework generalizes across diverse connector geometries and assembly configurations without requiring explicit object annotations. Our method improves end-to-end task success by 35 percentage points over the baseline diffusion policy and by 75 percentage points over the previous task-context-aware baseline.

Our Method

D-Sub Removal

USB Removal

BNC Removal

Terminal Block Removal

End-to-End Removal

Temporal Freezing Effect

D-Sub Freezing during Grasp

BNC Freezing during Grasp

Terminal Block Freezing during Grasp

Terminal Block Freezing during Pull

USB Freezing during Grasp

USB Freezing during Pull

USB Freezing End-to-End

Edge Cases

Double D-Sub Removal

Double USB Removal

Double Terminal Block Removal

Double BNC Removal

Generalization to Held-Out Mechanisms and Assembly Configs

NEMA 5-15P 120V Power Cable

Velcro

Industrial-Grade Magnet

USB Hub

Generalization to Out-Of-Distribution Objects

BNC Type A

BNC Type B

D-Sub Type B

Blue USB

Orange USB

Silver USB

USB Type A

Hardware Setup

Item Number Description Manufacturer MPN Quantity Preview
1 D-Sub Interface Mount 3D Printed D_sub_interface.STL 2
D-Sub Interface Mount
2 USB Interface Mount 3D Printed usb_interface.STL 1
USB Interface Mount
3 BNC Interface Mount 3D Printed bnc_interface.STL 1
BNC Interface Mount
4 Terminal Block Interface Mount 3D Printed terminal_block_interface.STL 1
Terminal Block Interface Mount
5 Plate Standoff, 1" 3D Printed standoff.STL 4
Plate Standoff, 1"
6 D-Sub, Backshell JAE Electronics DB-C8-J10-B5-1R 2
D-Sub Backshell
7 D-Sub, Male NorComp Inc. 171-025-103L001 1
D-Sub Male
8 D-Sub, Female TE Connectivity AMP 207463-1 1
D-Sub Female
9 USB Connector, Male MISUMI U02-AM-BM-0.5 1
USB Connector, Male
10 USB Passthrough, Panel Mount, Female MISUMI U09-AF-AF-B 1
USB Passthrough, Panel Mount
11 BNC, Male RF Solutions ADP-SMBM-BNCM 1
BNC Male
12 BNC, Female Pomona Electronics 2451A 1
BNC Female
13 Terminal Block, Male MISUMI MCON-E10-SP 1
Terminal Block, Male
14 Terminal Block, Female MISUMI MCON-E10-SS 1
Terminal Block, Female
15 Fixture Plate, 10×10×1/2", 1/4"-20 Thread JMSMSH 10" x 10" x 1/2" 1
Fixture Plate
16 Screw, Socket Head, 1/4"-20, 0.75" L McMaster-Carr 92196A540 8
1/4"-20 Socket Head Screw
17 Screw, Socket Head, M3, 35mm L McMaster-Carr 91290A135 6
M3 Socket Head Screw (35mm)
18 Screw, Socket Head, M3, 16mm L McMaster-Carr 91290A120 6
M3 Socket Head Screw (16mm)
19 Nut, Hex, Thin, M3 McMaster-Carr 90695A033 12
M3 Thin Hex Nut

Full Task Board (dissambled)

Full Task Board (assembled)

BibTeX


  TBD