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About

Hanseob Lee is a leading roboticist whose work pushes the boundaries of autonomous navigation in the world’s most challenging environments. His research centers on field robotics, aerial autonomy, and collision-free path planning for unknown, GPS-denied spaces. Lee is best known for his pivotal role on TEAM CoSTAR, which won Phase II of the DARPA Subterranean Challenge. His highly cited paper “NeBula: Quest for Robotic Autonomy in Challenging Environments” (105 citations) details the algorithms and hardware that enabled robots to navigate treacherous tunnels and urban ruins without human intervention. He also developed a direct visual servoing framework for the 2016 IROS Autonomous Drone Racing Challenge (60 citations), demonstrating agile flight in obstacle-dense courses. Lee’s more recent work introduces robust, lightweight aerial autonomy using LiDAR-based local planners that ensure collision-free exploration in confined subterranean spaces. With over 225 total citations, his contributions are foundational to the next generation of search-and-rescue robots and autonomous drones, proving that machines can safely explore the most inaccessible places on Earth.