Core Insights - The emergence of Vision Language Action (VLA) models signifies a paradigm shift in robotics from traditional strategy-based control to general-purpose robotic technology, transforming Vision Language Models (VLMs) from passive sequence generators to active agents capable of executing operations and making decisions in complex, dynamic environments [1][5][11] Summary by Sections Introduction - Robotics has historically relied on pre-programmed instructions and control strategies for task execution, primarily in simple, repetitive tasks [5] - Recent advancements in AI and deep learning have enabled the integration of perception, detection, tracking, and localization technologies, leading to the development of embodied intelligence and autonomous driving [5] - Current robots often operate as "isolated agents," lacking effective interaction with humans and external environments, prompting researchers to explore the integration of Large Language Models (LLMs) and VLMs for more precise and flexible robotic operations [5][6] Background - The development of VLA models marks a significant step towards general embodied intelligence, unifying visual perception, language understanding, and executable control within a single modeling framework [11][16] - The evolution of VLA models is supported by breakthroughs in single-modal foundational models across computer vision, natural language processing, and reinforcement learning [13][16] VLA Models Overview - VLA models have rapidly developed due to advancements in multi-modal representation learning, generative modeling, and reinforcement learning [24] - The core design of VLA models includes the integration of visual encoding, LLM reasoning, and decision-making frameworks, aiming to bridge the gap between perception, understanding, and action [23][24] VLA Methodologies - VLA methods are categorized into five paradigms: autoregressive, diffusion models, reinforcement learning, hybrid methods, and specialized approaches, each with distinct design motivations and core strategies [6][24] - Autoregressive models focus on sequential generation of actions based on historical context and task instructions, demonstrating scalability and robustness [26][28] Applications and Resources - VLA models are applicable in various robotic domains, including robotic arms, quadrupedal robots, humanoid robots, and wheeled robots (autonomous vehicles) [7] - The development of VLA models heavily relies on high-quality datasets and simulation platforms to address challenges related to data scarcity and high risks in real-world testing [17][21] Challenges and Future Directions - Key challenges in the VLA field include data limitations, reasoning speed, and safety concerns, which need to be addressed to accelerate the development of VLA models and general robotic technologies [7][18] - Future research directions are outlined to enhance the capabilities of VLA models, focusing on improving data diversity, enhancing reasoning mechanisms, and ensuring safety in real-world applications [7][18] Conclusion - The review emphasizes the need for a clear classification system for pure VLA methods, highlighting the significant features and innovations of each category, and providing insights into the resources necessary for training and evaluating VLA models [9][24]