Pixel-UMI: Learning Environment-Aware Whole-Body Manipulation from Sensorized Human Demonstrations

Sensorized human demonstrations offer scalable data for mobile manipulation, but embodiment differences complicate policy learning. We present Pixel-UMI, a pipeline for learning environment-aware whole-body policies from human data. We first introduce Environment-Aware Retargeting (EAR), which combines reconstructed scene geometry with demonstrated head and gripper trajectories to determine robot posture and generate collision-aware joint and base targets. Delay-calibrated action assignment converts these trajectories into actions. However, kinematic differences can leave residual pose errors, creating viewpoint mismatches between human demonstrations and robot observations. We therefore introduce Retargeting-Error-Aware Masking (REAM), which uses these errors during training to reduce reliance on mismatched views at deployment. Finally, because estimated actions cannot fully capture contact-rich interactions, we collect on-policy human corrections through DAgger to improve performance. We evaluate Pixel-UMI on five challenging tasks spanning articulated-object manipulation, deformable-object handling, constrained-space reaching, whole-body collision avoidance, and contact-rich bimanual coordination, achieving 87.0% average task progress. Video results are available at https://pixel-robot.com/pixel-umi

Authors

Publication Details

Journal
arXiv (Cornell University)
Published
2026-11-02
DOI
https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2611.03647
Primary Topic
Robot Manipulation and Learning
Type
preprint
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
preprint

Pixel-UMI: Learning Environment-Aware Whole-Body Manipulation from Sensorized Human Demonstrations

Deepak Pathak, Ruslan Salakhutdinov, Jason Liu, Tony Tao
arXiv (Cornell University)
Robot Manipulation and Learning
preprint

Pixel-UMI: Learning Environment-Aware Whole-Body Manipulation from Sensorized Human Demonstrations

Deepak Pathak, Ruslan Salakhutdinov, Jason Liu, Tony Tao
preprint en

Abstract

Sensorized human demonstrations offer scalable data for mobile manipulation, but embodiment differences complicate policy learning. We present Pixel-UMI, a pipeline for learning environment-aware whole-body policies from human data. We first introduce Environment-Aware Retargeting (EAR), which combines reconstructed scene geometry with demonstrated head and gripper trajectories to determine robot posture and generate collision-aware joint and base targets. Delay-calibrated action assignment converts these trajectories into actions. However, kinematic differences can leave residual pose errors, creating viewpoint mismatches between human demonstrations and robot observations. We therefore introduce Retargeting-Error-Aware Masking (REAM), which uses these errors during training to reduce reliance on mismatched views at deployment. Finally, because estimated actions cannot fully capture contact-rich interactions, we collect on-policy human corrections through DAgger to improve performance. We evaluate Pixel-UMI on five challenging tasks spanning articulated-object manipulation, deformable-object handling, constrained-space reaching, whole-body collision avoidance, and contact-rich bimanual coordination, achieving 87.0% average task progress. Video results are available at https://pixel-robot.com/pixel-umi

arXiv (Cornell University)
Robot Manipulation and Learning
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.

Laika access coming soon
Pixel-UMI: Learning Environment-Aware Whole-Body Manipulation from Sensorized Human Demonstrations — Deepak Pathak, Ruslan Salakhutdinov, et al. · arXiv (Cornell University) (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS