Anne Spalanzani

About

Anne Spalanzani is a prominent robotics researcher whose work sits at the intersection of autonomous navigation, probabilistic planning, and human-robot interaction. Her research has fundamentally advanced how robots and autonomous vehicles move safely and intelligently in dynamic, human-populated environments. Spalanzani's early contributions focused on probabilistic approaches to obstacle avoidance, combining techniques such as Probabilistic Velocity Obstacles with occupancy grids and Rapidly-exploring Random Trees to enable robust navigation under uncertainty — work that has garnered over 200 and 129 citations respectively. She extended these foundations to incorporate learned human motion patterns using Gaussian processes and Hidden Markov Models, allowing robots to anticipate pedestrian behavior rather than merely react to it. Perhaps her most influential contributions lie in socially aware navigation. Her 2014 survey on proxemics-based navigation (373 citations) became a landmark reference in the field, and her Risk-RRT framework demonstrated how robots could respect social conventions and human interaction zones. Her 2024 follow-up survey confirms her continued leadership in this evolving domain. Complementing this, her work on pedestrian behavior in shared spaces with autonomous vehicles reflects a broadening societal relevance. Across more than a decade of research, Spalanzani has shaped how intelligent systems learn to coexist respectfully and safely with people.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   From Proxemics Theory to Socially-Aware Navigation: A Survey

   373 citations · 2014
2. 2
   Dynamic Obstacle Avoidance in uncertain environment combining PVOs and Occupancy Grid

   213 citations · 2007
3. 3
   Probabilistic navigation in dynamic environment using Rapidly-exploring Random Trees and Gaussian processes

   129 citations · 2008
4. 4
   Understanding human interaction for probabilistic autonomous navigation using Risk-RRT approach

   82 citations · 2011
5. 5
   A survey on socially aware robot navigation: Taxonomy and future challenges

   80 citations · 2024
6. 6
   Probabilistic motion planning among moving obstacles following typical motion patterns

   63 citations · 2009
7. 7
   Understanding human interaction for probabilistic autonomous navigation using Risk-RRT approach

   60 citations · 2011
8. 8
   Pedestrian Behavior in Shared Spaces With Autonomous Vehicles: An Integrated Framework and Review

   56 citations · 2021
9. 9
   Risk based motion planning and navigation in uncertain dynamic environment

   49 citations · 2010
10. 10
    A Visibility-Based Approach for Occupancy Grid Computation in Disparity Space

    42 citations · 2012

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links