CLAW: A Vision-Language-Action Framework for Weight-Aware Robotic Grasping

Vision-language-action (VLA) models have recently emerged as a promising paradigm for robotic control, enabling end-to-end policies that ground natural language instructions into visuomotor actions. However, current VLAs often struggle to satisfy precise task constraints, such as stopping based on numeric thresholds, since their observation-to-action mappings are implicitly shaped by training data and lack explicit mechanisms for condition monitoring. In this work, we propose CLAW (CLIP-Language-Action for Weight), a framework that decouples condition evaluation from action generation. CLAW leverages a fine-tuned CLIP model as a lightweight prompt generator, which continuously monitors the digital readout of a scale and produces discrete directives based on task-specific weight thresholds. These prompts are then consumed by $\pi_0$, a flow-based VLA policy, which integrates the prompts with multi-view camera observations to produce continuous robot actions. This design enables CLAW to combine symbolic weight reasoning with high-frequency visuomotor control. We validate CLAW on three experimental setups: single-object grasping and mixed-object tasks requiring dual-arm manipulation. Across all conditions, CLAW reliably executes weight-aware behaviors and outperforms both raw-$\pi_0$ and fine-tuned $\pi_0$ models. We have uploaded the videos as supplementary materials.

SeqVLA: Sequential Task Execution for Long-Horizon Manipulation with Completion-Aware Vision-Language-Action Model

Long-horizon robotic manipulation tasks require executing multiple interdependent subtasks in strict sequence, where errors in detecting subtask completion can cascade into downstream failures. Existing Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models such as $\pi_0$ excel at continuous low-level control but lack an internal signal for identifying when a subtask has finished, making them brittle in sequential settings. We propose SeqVLA, a completion-aware extension of $\pi_0$ that augments the base architecture with a lightweight detection head perceiving whether the current subtask is complete. This dual-head design enables SeqVLA not only to generate manipulation actions but also to autonomously trigger transitions between subtasks. We investigate four finetuning strategies that vary in how the action and detection heads are optimized (joint vs. sequential finetuning) and how pretrained knowledge is preserved (full finetuning vs. frozen backbone). Experiments are performed on two multi-stage tasks: salad packing with seven distinct subtasks and candy packing with four distinct subtasks. Results show that SeqVLA significantly outperforms the baseline $\pi_0$ and other strong baselines in overall success rate. In particular, joint finetuning with an unfrozen backbone yields the most decisive and statistically reliable completion predictions, eliminating sequence-related failures and enabling robust long-horizon execution. Our results highlight the importance of coupling action generation with subtask-aware detection for scalable sequential manipulation.

Reinforcement Learning for Game-Theoretic Resource Allocation on Graphs

Game-theoretic resource allocation on graphs (GRAG) involves two players competing over multiple steps to control nodes of interest on a graph, a problem modeled as a multi-step Colonel Blotto Game (MCBG). Finding optimal strategies is challenging due to the dynamic action space and structural constraints imposed by the graph. To address this, we formulate the MCBG as a Markov Decision Process (MDP) and apply Reinforcement Learning (RL) methods, specifically Deep Q-Network (DQN) and Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO). To enforce graph constraints, we introduce an action-displacement adjacency matrix that dynamically generates valid action sets at each step. We evaluate RL performance across a variety of graph structures and initial resource distributions, comparing against random, greedy, and learned RL policies. Experimental results show that both DQN and PPO consistently outperform baseline strategies and converge to a balanced $50\%$ win rate when competing against the learned RL policy. Particularly, on asymmetric graphs, RL agents successfully exploit structural advantages and adapt their allocation strategies, even under disadvantageous initial resource distributions.

Large Language Models for Multi-Robot Systems: A Survey

The rapid advancement of Large Language Models (LLMs) has opened new possibilities in Multi-Robot Systems (MRS), enabling enhanced communication, task planning, and human-robot interaction. Unlike traditional single-robot and multi-agent systems, MRS poses unique challenges, including coordination, scalability, and real-world adaptability. This survey provides the first comprehensive exploration of LLM integration into MRS. It systematically categorizes their applications across high-level task allocation, mid-level motion planning, low-level action generation, and human intervention. We highlight key applications in diverse domains, such as household robotics, construction, formation control, target tracking, and robot games, showcasing the versatility and transformative potential of LLMs in MRS. Furthermore, we examine the challenges that limit adapting LLMs in MRS, including mathematical reasoning limitations, hallucination, latency issues, and the need for robust benchmarking systems. Finally, we outline opportunities for future research, emphasizing advancements in fine-tuning, reasoning techniques, and task-specific models. This survey aims to guide researchers in the intelligence and real-world deployment of MRS powered by LLMs. Based on the fast-evolving nature of research in the field, we keep updating the papers in the open-source Github repository.

Double Oracle Algorithm for Game-Theoretic Robot Allocation on Graphs

We study the problem of game-theoretic robot allocation where two players strategically allocate robots to compete for multiple sites of interest. Robots possess offensive or defensive capabilities to interfere and weaken their opponents to take over a competing site. This problem belongs to the conventional Colonel Blotto Game. Considering the robots' heterogeneous capabilities and environmental factors, we generalize the conventional Blotto game by incorporating heterogeneous robot types and graph constraints that capture the robot transitions between sites. Then we employ the Double Oracle Algorithm (DOA) to solve for the Nash equilibrium of the generalized Blotto game. Particularly, for cyclic-dominance-heterogeneous (CDH) robots that inhibit each other, we define a new transformation rule between any two robot types. Building on the transformation, we design a novel utility function to measure the game's outcome quantitatively. Moreover, we rigorously prove the correctness of the designed utility function. Finally, we conduct extensive simulations to demonstrate the effectiveness of DOA on computing Nash equilibrium for homogeneous, linear heterogeneous, and CDH robot allocation on graphs.