Stefan Kohlbrecher
Technische Universität Darmstadt, Robotics Research (United States)
Papers
32
Total Citations
1,699
H-Index
12
About
Stefan Kohlbrecher is a leading roboticist whose work bridges the critical gap between autonomous systems and human-robot collaboration, with a primary focus on Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) and disaster response. His most influential contribution is the development of a flexible, scalable SLAM system that enables fast, online 3D mapping using low-computational resources, a foundational paper with over 1,080 citations. This work, alongside his open-source Hector modules for autonomous navigation, has become a standard toolkit for rescue robotics. Kohlbrecher was a key figure in the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC), leading Team ViGIR and Team Hector. His research there pioneered a philosophy of "collaborative autonomy," where human operators and high-level robot behaviors work as full team members to control complex humanoid robots in unstructured, hazardous environments. He has made significant advances in supervised footstep planning, template-based manipulation, and semantic world modeling, enabling humanoids to navigate rough terrain and manipulate unknown objects. With over 2,600 total citations, Kohlbrecher's open-source contributions have profoundly shaped the fields of autonomous navigation and human-robot teaming for real-world emergency response.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1A flexible and scalable SLAM system with full 3D motion estimation1,083 citations · 2011
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9Open source integrated 3D footstep planning framework for humanoid robots17 citations · 2016
- 10