Papers
17
Total Citations
387
H-Index
11
About
Michael Paton is a robotics and autonomous systems researcher whose work spans two compelling frontiers: long-term visual navigation for terrestrial robots and autonomous mobility for planetary exploration. His early contributions focused on vision-based route-following algorithms, most notably through the Visual Teach and Repeat framework, which enables robots to autonomously repeat manually driven paths using inexpensive cameras despite dramatic changes in lighting, weather, and seasonal appearance. His 2016 paper on "bridging the appearance gap" has accumulated 82 citations, reflecting its significance to the field of robust outdoor localization. Paton extended this work through adaptive RGB-D localization and nighttime visual odometry, demonstrating a commitment to making autonomous navigation practical across diverse and challenging conditions. More recently, his research has pivoted toward space robotics, contributing to high-profile mission concepts including Moon Diver, which proposes exploring lunar pit walls to unravel volcanic history, and the EELS snake-like robot designed for navigating icy worlds like Enceladus in search of astrobiological clues. With over 300 total citations across his portfolio, Paton's research bridges the gap between fundamental autonomy challenges and some of the most ambitious goals in planetary science.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 5Adaptive RGB-D Localization26 citations · 2012
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- 7Moon Diver: Exploring a pit's exposed strata to understand lunar volcanism16 citations · 2023
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- 10Night Rider: Visual Odometry Using Headlights15 citations · 2017