Papers
5
Total Citations
136
H-Index
5
About
Kazys Stepanas is a leading robotics researcher at CSIRO Data61, specializing in autonomous navigation, heterogeneous multi-robot systems, and 3D mapping for extreme environments. He played a pivotal role in Team CSIRO Data61’s top-scoring performance at the DARPA Subterranean Challenge, where his work on unifying perception and autonomy across ground and aerial platforms demonstrated how heterogeneous robot teams can collaboratively explore dangerous, unstructured underground spaces. His highly cited 2022 paper on this approach (97 citations) showcases the team’s breakthrough in balancing autonomy with human oversight. Stepanas also developed OHM, a GPU-accelerated occupancy map generation framework (17 citations), which enables real-time 3D lidar processing for modern robotic navigation. Additionally, his work on virtual surfaces and attitude-aware planning (6 citations) allows ground robots to safely traverse aggressive, sloped terrain by integrating terrain slope, visibility, and vehicle orientation into deliberative and reactive behaviors. These contributions have advanced the state of the art in autonomous exploration, particularly for search-and-rescue and subterranean operations, making Stepanas a key figure in field robotics.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 2OHM: GPU Based Occupancy Map Generation17 citations · 2022
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