Clearing the Table
The same pushing problem, with nobody helping the arm
The task of the pushing book with two helps removed. The camera above the table is gone, so the arm carries its own camera and has to travel to see. Nothing counts its pushes or tells it when to stop, so it must say itself when the table is done. The same six answers are run again, with fifteen arm minutes for a queue of fifty tables. This book covers only what changed: why looking became most of the work, why every learned answer at first broke glasses or froze, the shared arithmetic that made them safe, and how a learned world model came to lead.
- 01
The Problem
This book gives the arm the job from the pushing book: drag crowded glasses apart until every glass has room. Nothing is lifted, and "clearing" here means clearing the crowding, not emptying the table.
- 02
What Every Solution Had to Add
This chapter is about the parts that every solution had to add when the two helps were taken away. It is for a reader who has read the problem and knows the six solutions from the pushing book. Every number in the chapter comes…
- 03
Solution 1: One Fixed Nudge
This page answers one question. What changed in the fixed nudge when the overhead camera and the push-by-push hand-over were taken away? It is for a reader who has read the first two chapters of this book. It also assumes you…
- 04
Solution 2: Geometry Generates, a Model Ranks
This page answers one question. Does choosing from every legal push beat taking the one push a rule names, once the overhead camera is gone? It is for a reader who has read the fixed nudge's chapter just before it. It also…
- 05
Solution 3: Imitation From Demonstrations
This page answers one question. What had to change in the copying solution when the camera moved to the wrist? It is for a reader who already knows the method from the pushing book. That book explains behaviour cloning and action…
- 06
Solution 4: A World Model, Then Plan With It
This page says what changed in the world model solution when the overhead camera and the push counter were taken away. It is for a reader who has read the world model chapter of the pushing book and what every solution had to…
- 07
Solution 5: A Foundation Model as It Downloads
This chapter is about solution 5. It runs SmolVLA, a large borrowed robot model, exactly as it downloads. Nothing in it is trained in this cell. It is for a reader who has read the earlier chapters of this book. It also assumes…
- 08
Solution 6: The Same Model, Fine-Tuned Here
This chapter is about solution 6. It takes the borrowed model from solution 5 and trains it a little more on answers given in this cell. It is for a reader who knows the method from the pushing book's chapter on it. This page…
- 09
The Results
This page is the scoreboard for the six solutions in this book. It answers one question. On the same queue of tables, under the same clock, how much did each solution clear, and how many glasses did it break? It also says how far…