Imitation Learning

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Overview

Imitation learning teaches an agent to act by using examples of how a person or expert system behaves, often when specifying a reward is difficult. Behavior cloning directly maps observations to actions, while DAgger adds expert corrections on states the learner encounters, and inverse or adversarial imitation learning infers what behavior to match. Current methods also use diffusion policies, retrieval, world models, and visual, language, or tactile data for tasks such as robot manipulation, autonomous driving, and multi-agent coordination, with benchmarks including LIBERO, RoboMimic, and CARLA. A central challenge is that small errors can lead agents into states missing from demonstrations; improving recovery and safety while learning efficiently from limited, noisy, or conflicting examples remains an open tension.

Latest papers

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263 papers37 papers in the last four weeks, up 32% on the four weeks before. 0.2% of all new papers.

  1. Physical Imitation Learning: Distilling Control Policies into Passive Elasticity

    Apr 1, 2026Huyue Ma, Yurui Jin, Helmut Hauser +1Energy-Efficient Robot LocomotionRobot Morphology-Control Co-Design

    School of Engineering Mathematics and Technology, University of Bristol, and the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, BS8 1QU, United Kingdom

  2. Multi-Camera View Scaling for Data-Efficient Robot Imitation Learning

    Apr 1, 2026Yichen Xie, Yixiao Wang, Shuqi Zhao +4Robot Imitation LearningImitation Learning

    UC Berkeley · Lambda, Inc · MIT

  3. DIAL: Decoupling Intent and Action via Latent World Modeling for End-to-End VLA

    Mar 31, 2026Yi Chen, Yuying Ge, Hui Zhou +3Vision-Language-Action ModelsRobotic Manipulation

    The University of Hong Kong · XPENG Robotics · University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  4. Scaling Whole-Body Human Musculoskeletal Behavior Emulation for Specificity and Diversity

    Mar 31, 2026Yunyue Wei, Chenhui Zuo, Shanning Zhuang +3Whole-Body ControlHuman Motion Generation

    Tsinghua University.

  5. Energy-Aware Imitation Learning for Steering Prediction Using Events and Frames

    Mar 30, 2026Hu Cao, Jiong Liu, Xingzhuo Yan +5Autonomous DrivingImitation Learning

    School of Automation, Southeast University, Sipailou 2, Nanjing, 210096, China. · Chair of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Real-time Systems, Technical University of Munich, Boltzmannstraße 15, Munich, 85748, Germany. · School of Computer Science and Technology, Tongji University, Cao’an Road, Shanghai, 200070, China.

  6. Flip Stunts on Bicycle Robots using Iterative Motion Imitation

    Mar 30, 2026Jeonghwan Kim, Shamel Fahmi, Seungeun Rho +2Robot Imitation LearningImitation Learning

    RAI Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA · Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA

  7. Match or Replay: Self Imitating Proximal Policy Optimization

    Mar 29, 2026Gaurav Chaudhary, Laxmidhar Behera, Washim Uddin MondalRL ExplorationSample-Efficient RL

    Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

  8. Liquid Networks with Mixture Density Heads for Efficient Imitation Learning

    Mar 28, 2026Nikolaus CorrellMixture Density NetworksImitation Learning

    University of Colorado Boulder

  9. Partial Motion Imitation for Learning Cart Pushing with Legged Manipulators

    Mar 27, 2026Mili Das, Morgan Byrd, Donghoon Baek +1Adversarial Motion PriorRobotic Loco-Manipulation

    Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30308, USA

  10. Addressing Ambiguity in Imitation Learning through Product of Experts based Negative Feedback

    Mar 27, 2026John Bateman, Andy M. Tyrrell, Jihong ZhuProduct of ExpertsLearning from Suboptimal Demonstrations

    University of York

  11. TacSIm: A Dataset and Benchmark for Football Tactical Style Imitation

    Mar 26, 2026Peng Wen, Yuting Wang, Qiurui WangImitation Learning

  12. MIRROR: Visual Motion Imitation via Real-time Retargeting and Teleoperation with Parallel Differential Inverse Kinematics

    Mar 25, 2026Junheng Li, Lizhi Yang, Aaron D. AmesInverse KinematicsRobot Kinematics

    Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA.

  13. Non-Adversarial Imitation Learning Provably Free of Compounding Errors: The Value Flow Mechanism

    Mar 24, 2026Tian Xu, Chenyang Wang, Xiaochen Zhai +3Imitation Learning

    National Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology and School of Artificial Intelligence, Nanjing University, China · The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen · Shenzhen Research Institute of Big Data

  14. Learning Sidewalk Autopilot from Multi-Scale Imitation with Corrective Behavior Expansion

    Mar 23, 2026Honglin He, Yukai Ma, Brad Squicciarini +2Imitation LearningInteractive Imitation Learning

    Department of Computer Science, University of California, Los Angeles · Coco Robotics

  15. Understanding Behavior Cloning with Action Quantization

    Mar 20, 2026Haoqun Cao, Tengyang XieBehavior CloningImitation Learning

    University of Wisconsin–Madison

  16. Safety-Guaranteed Imitation Learning from Nonlinear Model Predictive Control for Spacecraft Close Proximity Operations

    Mar 19, 2026Alexander Meinert, Niklas Baldauf, Peter Stadler +1Control Lyapunov FunctionsImitation Learning

    Space Applications Group, e:fs TechHub GmbH, Gaimersheim, Germany. · Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences, Germany.

  17. ViTac-Tracing: Visual-Tactile Imitation Learning of Deformable Object Tracing

    Mar 19, 2026Yongqiang Zhao, Haining Luo, Yupeng Wang +3Deformable Object ManipulationImitation Learning

    Robot Perception Laboratory, Department of Engineering, King’s College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom · Personal Robotics Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom

  18. KiRAS: Keyframe Guided Self-Imitation for Robust and Adaptive Skill Learning in Quadruped Robots

    Mar 16, 2026Xiaoyi Wei, Peng Zhai, Jiaxin Tu +5Robot Skill LearningQuadruped Locomotion

    College of Intelligent Robotics and Advanced Manufacturing, Fudan University, China. · Power China Huadong Engineering Corporation Limited, China.

  19. How do Role Models Shape Collective Morality? Exemplar-Driven Moral Learning in Multi-Agent Simulation

    Mar 14, 2026Junjie Liao, Huacong Tang, Zhou Ziheng +2Normative Conformity in Language ModelsImitation Learning

    Beijing Normal University · University of California, Los Angeles · Peking University

  20. Fine-tuning is Not Enough: A Parallel Framework for Collaborative Imitation and Reinforcement Learning in End-to-end Autonomous Driving

    Mar 14, 2026Zhexi Lian, Haoran Wang, Xuerun Yan +4End-to-End Autonomous DrivingRL for Autonomous Driving

    Tongji University · Nanyang Technological University · Chery Automobile

  21. Easy-IIL: Reducing Human Operational Burden in Interactive Imitation Learning via an Assistant Expert

    Mar 13, 2026Chengjie Zhang, Chao Tang, Wenlong Dong +3Imitation LearningInteractive Imitation Learning

    Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Robotics and Computer Vision, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China. · Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China. · Department of Robotics, Perception, and Learning, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.

  22. Imitation Learning from Human Motion Alone Does Not Guarantee Biomechanically Plausible Gait Kinetics

    Mar 12, 2026Xinyi Liu, Jangwhan Ahn, Edgar Lobaton +2Gait AnalysisImitation Learning

    Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA · Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA · School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

  23. Lifelong Imitation Learning with Multimodal Latent Replay and Incremental Adjustment

    Mar 11, 2026Fanqi Yu, Matteo Tiezzi, Tommaso Apicella +2Imitation LearningRobot Imitation Learning

    AI for Good (AIGO), Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genoa, Italy · DITEN, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy · PAVIS, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genoa, Italy +1

  24. ScanDP: Generalizable 3D Scanning with Diffusion Policy

    Mar 11, 2026Itsuki Hirako, Ryo Hakoda, Yubin Liu +3Occupancy Grid Mapping3D Reconstruction

    Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, Japan · Kyoto University of Advanced Science, Kyoto, Japan

  25. ReTac-ACT: A State-Gated Vision-Tactile Fusion Transformer for Precision Assembly

    Mar 10, 2026Minchi Ruan, LiangQing Zhou, Hongtong Li +4Contact-Rich Robotic ManipulationRobotic Assembly

    Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China · SunHDex Intelligent Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Beijing, China · University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

  26. Agentic Critical Training

    Mar 9, 2026Weize Liu, Minghui Liu, Sy-Tuyen Ho +5LLM Agent TrainingImitation Learning

    University of Maryland, College Park

  27. Oracle-Guided Soft Shielding for Safe Move Prediction in Chess

    Mar 9, 2026Prajit T Rajendran, Fabio Arnez, Huascar Espinoza +2Game-Playing AgentsSafety-Critical Control

    Universit´e Paris-Saclay, CEA LIST Palaiseau, France · Chips JU Brussels, Belgium · Laboratoire National de Metrologie et d’Essais Trappes, France

  28. SAIL: Test-Time Scaling for In-Context Imitation Learning with VLM

    Mar 9, 2026Makoto Sato, Yusuke Iwasawa, Yujin Tang +1Robot Imitation LearningImitation Learning

    The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. · Sakana AI, Tokyo, Japan.

  29. SPREAD: Subspace Representation Distillation for Lifelong Imitation Learning

    Mar 9, 2026Kaushik Roy, Giovanni D'urso, Nicholas Lawrance +2Imitation LearningRobot Imitation Learning

    CSIRO Robotics, DATA61, CSIRO, Australia. · Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia.

  30. DAISS: Phase-Aware Imitation Learning for Dual-Arm Robotic Ultrasound-Guided Interventions

    Mar 8, 2026Feng Li, Pei Liu, Shiting Wang +4Bimanual Robotic ManipulationRobot Imitation Learning

    Chair for Computer Aided Medical Procedures(CAMP), Technical University of Munich(TUM), Munich, Germany · Munich Center for Machine Learning (MCML), Munich, Germany · The University of Hong Kong(HKU), Hong Kong, China