NORM-Nav: Zero-Shot Mobile Robot Navigation with Natural Language Behavioral Constraints

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2605.16979v1
• Date: Sat, 16 May 2026 12:58:03 GMT
• Title: NORM-Nav: Zero-Shot Mobile Robot Navigation with Natural Language Behavioral Constraints
• Abstract summary: This paper presents NORM-Nav, a framework that integrates natural language behavioral constraints into costmap-based planning.<n>An LLM parses each instruction into structured constraints and grounds them using real-time vision--LiDAR perception.<n> Simulation and real-world experiments indicate that NORM-Nav improves task success rates and produces trajectories closer to human references than representative baselines.
• Score: 46.6378130545666
• License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/
• Abstract: Mobile robots operating in human-centered environments must generate not only collision-free paths but also trajectories that follow local behavioral conventions. Conventional costmap-based navigation emphasizes geometric feasibility and often overlooks such requirements, which can result in socially inappropriate behaviors. This paper presents NORM-Nav, a zero-shot framework that integrates natural language behavioral constraints into costmap-based planning. An LLM parses each instruction into structured constraints and grounds them using real-time vision--LiDAR perception. These constraints are encoded as multi-layer costmaps that represent geometric, semantic, directional, and velocity cues and are directly compatible with standard grid-based planners. Simulation and real-world experiments indicate that NORM-Nav improves task success rates and produces trajectories closer to human references than representative baselines. The project website is available at https://ei-nav.github.io/NORM-Nav.

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