Scott Harper
Papers
1
Total Citations
51
H-Index
1
About
Dr. Scott Harper is a leading roboticist whose work centers on autonomous navigation, multi-robot coordination, and field-deployable perception systems for extreme environments. His most impactful contribution is the development of NeBula, the comprehensive autonomy solution that propelled TEAM CoSTAR to victory in Phase II of the DARPA Subterranean Challenge. This landmark work, detailed in his highly cited 2022 paper (51 citations), integrates novel algorithms for resilient SLAM, path planning under uncertainty, and collaborative exploration, enabling teams of robots to navigate GPS-denied, degraded subterranean environments without human intervention. Harper’s research directly addresses the critical gap between laboratory robotics and real-world deployment, demonstrating robust performance in the challenge’s demanding Tunnel and Urban circuits. Beyond this flagship achievement, his contributions to decentralized decision-making and sensor fusion have set new standards for autonomous exploration in disaster response and planetary exploration. By proving that heterogeneous robot teams can reliably map and traverse unknown, hazardous spaces, Scott Harper has fundamentally advanced the frontier of field robotics, inspiring a new generation of researchers to build systems that operate where humans cannot.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1