Pankaj Agarwal

About

Pankaj Agarwal is a leading researcher in algorithmic robotics, with a primary focus on motion planning and geometric algorithms. His most influential work addresses the fundamental challenge of curvature-constrained shortest paths, where a robot’s turning radius is limited. In his seminal 2002 paper (78 citations), he provided the first exact algorithm for computing optimal paths for a point robot moving inside a convex polygon under a maximum curvature constraint. He extended this to obstacle-filled environments with an approximation algorithm (53 citations), achieving near-optimal solutions with provable guarantees. Agarwal also advanced practical motion planning through the Hierarchical Probabilistic Roadmap (HPRM, 7 citations), a method that refines sampling near obstacle boundaries to efficiently navigate narrow passages—a classic bottleneck in robotics. His work bridges rigorous theoretical foundations with real-world applicability, as seen in his contributions to assembly planning and sensor-based manipulation. With over 200 total citations across his core papers, Agarwal’s research has shaped how robots plan smooth, collision-free trajectories, influencing both academic algorithm design and practical robotic systems.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Curvature-Constrained Shortest Paths in a Convex Polygon

   78 citations · 2002
2. 2
   Robotics: The Algorithmic Perspective

   62 citations · 1998
3. 3
   Approximation Algorithms for Curvature-Constrained Shortest Paths

   53 citations · 2001
4. 4
   HPRM: a hierarchical PRM

   7 citations · 2004
5. 5
   On Two-Handed Planar Assembly Partitioning with Connectivity Constraints

   6 citations · 2021
6. 6
   Smart Fire Fighting Robot

   2 citations · 2017

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links