John Connors

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

John Connors is a pioneering researcher in autonomous ground vehicles, with a core focus on path planning and obstacle avoidance algorithms. His major contributions center on the development and manipulation of B-spline-based trajectories, enabling smoother and more computationally efficient navigation for self-driving platforms. Connors’ work is deeply rooted in practical, high-stakes robotics, as evidenced by his use of the Overbot—one of the original DARPA Grand Challenge vehicles—as a testbed for his algorithms. This platform, equipped with a full actuator and sensor suite, allowed him to validate his approaches in real-world, unstructured environments. His most-cited paper, “Analysis of a Spline Based, Obstacle Avoiding Path Planning Algorithm” (2007), has garnered 62 citations, while his follow-up work on manipulating B-spline paths for obstacle avoidance has earned 34 citations. These contributions have helped shape the foundational techniques used in autonomous vehicle navigation, bridging the gap between theoretical spline mathematics and practical robotic control. Connors’ research remains influential for students and engineers working on real-time path planning in complex, dynamic terrains.