A method for controlling a robot including a manipulator is provided. The method may include: acquiring an image of a scene including a target object; inputting the image into a control policy model to obtain an object placement pose of the manipulator, as an output of the control policy model, wherein the control policy model is generated using data collected by a data collection system that is configured to acquire an object retrieval trajectory by observing a robot movement for object retrieval, and reverse the object retrieval trajectory into an object placement trajectory; and commanding the robot to position the manipulator according to the object placement pose, to place the target object at a designated location.