LangPert: Detecting and Handling Task-level Perturbations for Robust Object Rearrangement

Abstract: Task execution for object rearrangement could be challenged by Task-Level Perturbations (TLP), i.e., unexpected object additions, removals, and displacements that can disrupt underlying visual policies and fundamentally compromise task feasibility and progress. To address these challenges, we present LangPert, a language-based framework designed to detect and mitigate TLP situations in tabletop rearrangement tasks. LangPert integrates a Visual LLM (VLM) to comprehensively monitor policy's skill execution and environmental TLP, while leveraging the Hierarchical Chain-of-Thought (HCoT) reasoning mechanism to enhance the LLM's contextual understanding and generate adaptive, corrective skill-execution plans. Our experimental results demonstrate that LangPert handles diverse TLP situations more effectively than baseline methods, achieving higher task completion rates, improved execution efficiency, and potential generalization to unseen scenarios.