Papers
7
Total Citations
128
H-Index
6
About
Rainer Koch is a robotics researcher whose work centers on simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), 3D range sensing, and multi-robot systems. His most significant contributions address a persistent challenge in robotic mapping: the interference caused by specular reflections and transparent materials in laser scan data. Through a series of influential publications between 2015 and 2017, Koch developed detection and purging techniques that enable robots to discriminate faulty measurements caused by glass surfaces and mirrors — work that has collectively garnered over 75 citations and meaningfully advanced the reliability of indoor robotic navigation. Koch has also made notable contributions to multi-sensor data fusion, pioneering generalized frameworks based on Signed Distance Functions (SDFs) that unify 2D and 3D depth data across heterogeneous sensor modalities, extending approaches like KinectFusion to broader robotic contexts. His multi-robot localization and mapping research further demonstrates his ability to scale these methods across collaborative robot systems using LIDAR-based dynamic representations. With foundational work dating back to 2012 in range image registration, Koch's career reflects a consistent focus on making robotic perception more robust, accurate, and practically deployable in real-world environments — contributions highly relevant to students working in autonomous systems and service robotics.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2Multi-Robot Localization and Mapping Based on Signed Distance Functions26 citations · 2016
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- 6Multi-robot Localization and Mapping Based on Signed Distance Functions11 citations · 2015
- 7Robust Registration of Narrow-Field-of-View Range Images2 citations · 2012