Martin Herman

About

Martin Herman is a pioneering robotics and computer vision researcher whose work has fundamentally shaped how autonomous robots perceive and navigate their environments. Based at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), Herman's research has centered on two interconnected domains: real-time obstacle avoidance using optical flow and autonomous mobile robot systems. Herman's most celebrated contributions involve leveraging optical flow divergence as the primary perceptual cue for robot navigation. His landmark 1995 paper on central flow divergence and peripheral flow, which has garnered over 170 citations, demonstrated that motion vision alone could enable reliable, real-time obstacle avoidance — a conceptually elegant and computationally efficient approach that influenced a generation of robot vision systems. Complementary work showed that wide-field flow divergence on a single workstation could guide a robot collision-free for extended periods, underscoring the practical viability of these methods. Beyond visual navigation, Herman made early contributions to 3D collision-free motion planning using octree representations (104 citations) and pioneered hierarchical control architectures for multiple autonomous vehicles, including the ambitious MAUV underwater robotics project. His sustained research output across more than two decades, accumulating over 500 citations, reflects a career dedicated to bridging theoretical computer vision with robust, real-world autonomous systems.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Real-time obstacle avoidance using central flow divergence and peripheral flow

   170 citations · 1995
2. 2
   Fast, three-dimensional, collision-free motion planning

   104 citations · 1986
3. 3
   Real-time obstacle avoidance using central flow divergence, and peripheral flow

   103 citations · 1998
4. 4
   Real-time single-workstation obstacle avoidance using only wide-field flow divergence

   74 citations · 1996
5. 5
   Real-time obstacle avoidance using central flow divergence and peripheral flow

   33 citations · 2002
6. 6
   Overview of the multiple autonomous underwater vehicles (MAUV) project

   26 citations · 2003
7. 7
   Real-Time Hierarchical Planning for Multiple Mobile Robots

   13 citations · 1987
8. 8
   Real-time Single-workstation Obstacle Avoidance Using Only Wide-field Flow Divergence

   12 citations · 1999
9. 9
   A Real-time Computer Vision Platform for Mobile Robot Applications

   7 citations · 1996
10. 10
    Application Of The PIPE Image Processing Machine To Scanning Microscopy

    5 citations · 1988

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links