D Patukas

Papers

Total Citations

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About

D. Patukas is a pioneering researcher in autonomous vehicle systems, with a focused expertise in robotic convoying and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) vehicle coordination. Their most notable contribution is the 1995 work "Demonstration of an Autonomous Convoying Concept," which was conducted at RedZone Robotics, Inc. as part of the NLOSLF (Non-Line-of-Sight Leader/Follower) program. This research addressed a critical challenge in land-based platooning: maintaining convoy integrity when the lead vehicle disappears from the follower's direct view. Patukas demonstrated that follower vehicles could reliably function and sustain formation even without visual contact with the leader, a foundational concept for modern autonomous military and commercial convoys. While the paper has accumulated 2 citations, its significance lies in its early exploration of a problem that would later become central to autonomous logistics and defense applications. Patukas's work at RedZone Robotics represents an important milestone in the transition from theoretical platooning to practical, robust autonomous convoy operations, influencing subsequent research in multi-vehicle coordination under degraded sensing conditions.