Rafael Murrieta-Cid
Mathematics Research Center, Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Gates (United States), Universidad del Valle de México, Instituto de Salud del Estado de México, Consejo Nacional de Humanidades, Ciencias y Tecnologías, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Papers
67
Total Citations
1,606
H-Index
23
About
Rafael Murrieta-Cid is a prominent robotics researcher whose work spans autonomous robot navigation, motion planning, 3D object reconstruction, and deep learning applications in robotics. Based at the Centro de Investigación en Matemáticas (CIMAT) in Mexico, he has made foundational contributions to some of the most challenging problems in mobile robotics. Murrieta-Cid's most influential work addresses how robots with severely limited sensing can navigate and map unknown environments. His 2007 paper on distance-optimal navigation without distance sensing (117 citations) demonstrated that meaningful exploration is achievable even under extreme sensor constraints — a counterintuitive and practically significant result. Complementing this, his research on landmark-based navigation with field-of-view constraints (114 citations) provided optimal path-planning strategies for differential-drive robots, bridging theoretical rigor with real-world applicability. His extensive work on 3D object reconstruction, including volumetric next-best-view planning (128 citations) and view planning for mobile manipulators, has advanced how robots autonomously build accurate models of their surroundings under uncertainty. He has also contributed substantially to pursuit-evasion problems and visibility maintenance of unpredictable targets. His 2021 survey on deep and reinforcement learning in robotics (93 citations) reflects his commitment to bridging classical planning with modern AI, making his research portfolio both foundational and forward-looking.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2Distance-Optimal Navigation in an Unknown Environment Without Sensing Distances117 citations · 2007
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- 5Planning exploration strategies for simultaneous localization and mapping89 citations · 2006
- 6A reactive motion planner to maintain visibility of unpredictable targets61 citations · 2003
- 7Surveillance Strategies for a Pursuer with Finite Sensor Range60 citations · 2007
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- 9View planning for 3D object reconstruction with a mobile manipulator robot50 citations · 2014
- 10