Lenworth Thomas

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Lenworth Thomas is pioneering the miniaturization of LiDAR for micro-robotics, a field where size, weight, and adaptive perception are critical. His key research areas span micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), active vision, and sensor-robot geometry. Thomas’s major contribution is the development of a miniature LiDAR system with a detached MEMS scanner, enabling lightweight, bird- or insect-scale robots to perform 3D sensing—a capability previously limited to larger autonomous vehicles. This work, published in 2021, has garnered 45 citations, reflecting its foundational impact on micro-robotic perception. More recently, Thomas has advanced adaptive LiDAR designs that decouple sensor and robot geometry, addressing the challenge of coupling between egomotion (e.g., jitter or wind) and sensor orientation. His 2024 paper on this topic, while still early in its citation life, introduces a framework for active vision that allows micro-robots to reorient sensors independently of body pose. By tackling these fundamental constraints, Thomas is enabling a new generation of agile, perceptive micro-robots for applications in surveillance, exploration, and environmental monitoring.