David Paulius, Ph.D. | Personal Website

Tips for the Faculty Job Search

Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article is a short summary of recommendations and tips for the faculty job search.

SkillWrapper: Generative Predicate Invention for Skill Abstraction

Sun, 30 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

TL;DR – This paper introduces SkillWrapper, a system for creating abstract representations of skills using foundation models.

[IROS-25] Least Commitment Planning for the Object Scouting Problem

Sun, 19 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

TL;DR – This paper introduces a new planning framework for object scouting called the Scouting Partial-Order Planner, which exploits partial order and regression planning to plan around gaps in knowledge the robot may have about the existence, location, and state of relevant objects in its environment.

[ICRA-25] Bootstrapping Object-level Planning with Large Language Models

Tue, 20 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

TL;DR – This paper formalizes the concept of object-level planning and discusses how this level of planning naturally integrates with large language models (LLMs).

[IROS-24] Lang2LTL-2: Grounding Spatiotemporal Navigation Commands Using Large Language and Vision-Language Models

Sun, 01 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

IROS-24

[ICRA-24] CAPE: Corrective Actions from Precondition Errors using Large Language Models

Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

TL;DR – In this paper, we introduce CAPE: an approach to correct errors encountered during robot plan execution. We exploit the ability of large language models to generate high-level plans and to reason about causes of errors.

[IROS-23] Skill Generalization With Verbs

Sun, 01 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

TL;DR – This paper introduces a deep learning-based method for learning about the effects of verbs – more specifically, looking at initiation and termination conditions as with Markov Decision Processes (MDPs).

[RAL-23] Long-Horizon Planning and Execution with Functional Object-Oriented Networks

Tue, 13 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

TL;DR – In this paper, we introduce the idea of connecting FOONs to robotic task and motion planning. We automatically transform a FOON graph, which exists at the object level (i.e., it is a representation that uses meaningful labels or expressions close to human language), into task planning specifications written in PDDL (not a very intuitive way to communicate about tasks).

[CoRL-WS-22] Object-Level Planning and Abstraction

Wed, 14 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

TL;DR – This workshop paper (specifically, a blue-sky submission) introduces the importance of object-level planning and representation as an additional layer on top of task and motion planning. I present several benefits of using object-level planning for long-term use in robotics.

[CASE-22] Robot Learning of Assembly Tasks from Non-expert Demonstrations using Functional Object-Oriented Network

Fri, 15 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

TL;DR – This was a collaboration with Clemson University’s Yunyi Jia and Yi Chen, who were interested in using FOONs for representing assembly tasks. They successfully utilized and adapted a FOON to robotic assembly execution.

[RAL-22] Approximate Task Tree Retrieval in a Knowledge Network for Robotic Cooking

Fri, 15 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Leben in München: A Reflection of my Year Living in Munich

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

A reflection of my year (2020-2021) living in Munich as a postdoc at TUM.

[ICRA-21] Task Planning with a Weighted Functional Object-Oriented Network

Sat, 01 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000

TL;DR – In this paper, we attempt to execute task plan sequences extracted from FOONs. Since these sequences may contain actions that are not executable by a robot, we introduce a human assistant in planning, and the robot and assistant work together to solve the task.

[ICPR-21] Developing Motion Code Embedding for Action Recognition in Videos

Sun, 10 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

TL;DR – This work uses the features from the motion taxonomy to improve action recognition on egocentric videos from the EPIC-KITCHENS dataset. This is done by integrating motion code detection for action sequences.

[IROS-20] Estimating Motion Codes from Demonstration Videos

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

TL;DR – In this work, we showed how motion codes (which can be constructed using the motion taxonomy proposed in our RSS 2020 paper) can be used to improve action recognition with deep neural networks.

[RSS-20] A Motion Taxonomy for Manipulation Embedding

Wed, 15 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

TL;DR – In this work, we introduce new changes to the features of the motion taxonomy and show how action verbs encoded as motion codes better capture differences between them than conventional word embedding (as word2vec).

Giving Thanks

Wed, 13 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000

My dedication and acknowledgements to everyone that supported me during my Ph.D. journey.

[IROS-19] Manipulation Motion Taxonomy and Coding for Robots

Sun, 03 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0000

TL;DR – This paper introduces the motion taxonomy, a collection of robot-relevant features that are better suited for verb or action embedding than conventional word embedding. Motion codes are constructed per verb using the taxonomy. In this work, we show that motion codes assigned to verbs are closely related to one another based on force and trajectory data.

[RAS-19] A Survey of Knowledge Representation in Service Robotics

Thu, 01 Aug 2019 00:00:00 +0000

TL;DR – This was my first survey paper that covers knowledge representations for service robotics. Although it is dated, it covers an extensive list of approaches used to represent knowledge for several robot sub-tasks.

[TMM-18] Long Activity Video Understanding using Functional Object-Oriented Network

Wed, 05 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

TL;DR – This work leverages functional object-oriented networks and deep learning for video understanding. In addition, with the deep network framework, we jointly recognize object and action types, which can then be used for constructing new FOON structures.

[ICRA-18] Functional Object-Oriented Network: Construction & Expansion

Tue, 01 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

TL;DR – In this paper, we explore methods in natural language processing (NLP) – specifically semantic similarity – for expanding or generalizing knowledge contained in a FOON. This alleviates the need for demonstrating and annotating graphs by other means.

[IROS-16] Functional Object-Oriented Network for Manipulation Learning

Sat, 15 Oct 2016 00:00:00 +0000

TL;DR – This was the very first paper on FOON: the functional object-oriented network. Here, we introduced what they are and how they can be used for task planning. They are advantageous for their flexibility and human interpretability.

About Me 🤓

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

This is an overview of David Paulius, Ph.D.

Academic Philosophy

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Note: Featured here are documents for Faculty Applications.

My Role as an Academic

I seek to use my academic gifts and talents to solve every-day problems using robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), particularly for peoples, communities or groups in need. Such robots must efficiently and safely operate around and collaborate with humans.

My journey into an academic role was inspired by my mentors (both in my undergraduate and graduate studies) as well as prominent researchers in robotics.

David Paulius, Ph.D. | Personal Website

Tips for the Faculty Job Search

SkillWrapper: Generative Predicate Invention for Skill Abstraction

[IROS-25] Least Commitment Planning for the Object Scouting Problem

[ICRA-25] Bootstrapping Object-level Planning with Large Language Models

[IROS-24] Lang2LTL-2: Grounding Spatiotemporal Navigation Commands Using Large Language and Vision-Language Models

[ICRA-24] CAPE: Corrective Actions from Precondition Errors using Large Language Models

[IROS-23] Skill Generalization With Verbs

[RAL-23] Long-Horizon Planning and Execution with Functional Object-Oriented Networks

[CoRL-WS-22] Object-Level Planning and Abstraction

[CASE-22] Robot Learning of Assembly Tasks from Non-expert Demonstrations using Functional Object-Oriented Network

[RAL-22] Approximate Task Tree Retrieval in a Knowledge Network for Robotic Cooking

Leben in München: A Reflection of my Year Living in Munich

[ICRA-21] Task Planning with a Weighted Functional Object-Oriented Network

[ICPR-21] Developing Motion Code Embedding for Action Recognition in Videos

[IROS-20] Estimating Motion Codes from Demonstration Videos

[RSS-20] A Motion Taxonomy for Manipulation Embedding

Giving Thanks

[IROS-19] Manipulation Motion Taxonomy and Coding for Robots

[RAS-19] A Survey of Knowledge Representation in Service Robotics

[TMM-18] Long Activity Video Understanding using Functional Object-Oriented Network

[ICRA-18] Functional Object-Oriented Network: Construction & Expansion

[IROS-16] Functional Object-Oriented Network for Manipulation Learning

About Me 🤓

Academic Philosophy

Note: Featured here are documents for Faculty Applications.

My Role as an Academic

Curriculum Vitae

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Diversity Statement

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Fun Stuff 😜

Latest News & Timeline

Photography 📸

Research Statement

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Teaching Philosophy

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