Randolph C. Voorhies

University of Southern California, Envia Systems (United States)

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Randolph C. Voorhies is a roboticist whose research bridges computer vision, 3D perception, and mobile robotics, with a particular focus on enabling robots to navigate complex, real-world environments. His most significant contribution lies in tackling the notoriously difficult problem of 3D perception of specular, non-Lambertian surfaces—common in urban settings like glass buildings and shiny cars—which challenge both passive and active range sensors. His landmark paper, "Depth from stereo polarization in specular scenes for urban robotics" (2017, 34 citations), introduced a novel method combining stereo vision with polarization cues to recover depth from these challenging materials, a breakthrough for urban robotics. Earlier foundational work includes "Beobot 2.0: Cluster architecture for mobile robotics" (2010, 14 citations), where he designed an affordable, powerful cluster computing platform for mobile robots, enabling computationally demanding algorithms to run onboard. His 2016 paper on incorporating polarization into stereo vision further refined these techniques. Together, Voorhies’ work has advanced the practical deployment of robots in human-centric environments, offering robust perception solutions without reliance on artificial illumination.