You Only Teach Once

You Only Teach Once: Agentic Real-to-Sim and Robot Learning from a Single Demonstration

Zhaoning Wang, Siyi Chen, Jun Gao

University of Michigan

Scroll for the demos

Real-to-sim demos

Each scene is one recorded robot episode. Left of the line is the real robot; right of it, its physics twin in Isaac Sim replays the same recorded actions. Point at a scene to move the line, click it for the full videos, and scroll sideways for more.

How it works

From one recorded demonstration to a physics scene that replays it. An agent runs each tool and checks the result before moving on. The steps play on their own; drag the scene to look around.

Real grapes with their outline, beside the designed grapesReal bowl with its outline, beside the designed bowl

GPT-6 judge: accepted the real video left of the line, the replay right of it

grapesbowl Drag to turn, scroll to zoom
The steps play on their own.

In-context learning demos

The demonstration also teaches a robot agent. Its twin is reshuffled into new layouts, where the agent practises the task and revises its playbook; the model's weights never change.

Placeholder section: videos and results to come

The reconstructed twin

The demonstration replayed in simulation

Twin video

One of the shuffled layouts

The same twin with the objects in new places, where the agent practises

Shuffled layout video
Before practice: result to comeAfter practice: result to come

Real demos

The real robot doing the tasks.

Placeholder section: real robot videos to come

Real robot video

Task name

Real robot video

Task name

Real robot video

Task name

Real-to-sim-to-real

What the agent learned by practising in the twin, run back on the real robot.

Placeholder section: videos to come

Real demonstration

One real demonstration

The robot is taught the task once.

Practice in the twin

Practice in the twin

The agent practises new layouts in simulation.

On the real robot

Back on the real robot

The practised playbook runs on new real layouts.

RealPhysics twinX-raythe twin's objects outlined on the real video

Exterior camera

Wrist camera