GaussMemory: Task-Driven 3D Gaussian Scene Memory for Long-Horizon Robotic Manipulation

Abstract:Long-horizon robotic manipulation fundamentally relies on persistent spatial memory. However, existing 3D memory systems function merely as passive recorders: they store observations using fixed, hand-crafted rules, treating every scene element--whether a critical grasp target or an irrelevant background wall--with equal importance. In this paper, we propose a paradigm shift from passive storage to active, task-driven spatial memory. We argue that a robot's memory should not simply record what it sees, but actively learn how to remember--discovering which objects to track precisely, how aggressively to update them, and what to discard, all learned end-to-end without hand-designed rules. Crucially, this active paradigm is realized by unifying memory update and readout as two sides of the same cognitive process, enabling bidirectional flow where task needs shape update strategies and vice versa. To instantiate this vision, we introduce GaussMemory, which leverages 3D Gaussian Splatting as a persistent geometric substrate. On LIBERO, GaussMemory outperforms MemoryVLA on Goal and Long-10; on VLABench, it surpasses $\pi_0$-FAST by +5.2% (Track 1) and +6.0% (Track 6).

8 pages, 10 figures. Accepted to the 2026 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2026)

Robotics (cs.RO); Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI)

arXiv:2608.14986 [cs.RO]

(or arXiv:2608.14986v1 [cs.RO] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2608.14986 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

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