Papers
2
Total Citations
28
H-Index
2
About
D. Maravall is a pioneer in autonomous mobile robotics, with a career dedicated to bridging the gap between intelligent control and real-world navigation. His foundational work in the late 1980s and early 1990s, notably the highly cited paper "Guidance of an Autonomous Vehicle by Visual Feedback" (1990, 12 citations), helped establish the critical symbiosis between control engineering and computer vision. This research laid the groundwork for what would become a central theme in his career: creating robust navigation systems that can operate in unpredictable environments. Maravall’s most impactful contribution, however, is his 2002 paper "Combination of model-based and reactive methods in autonomous navigation" (16 citations). In this work, he introduced a novel hybrid architecture that fuses reactive, behavior-based control with higher-level, model-based planning. A key innovation was his enhancement of the potential field method with a unique procedure to escape local minima, a classic pitfall in reactive navigation. By also developing a topological map-building method based on a sensory gradient concept, Maravall provided a practical solution for robots to both react to immediate obstacles and plan efficient paths. His work remains a cornerstone for researchers tackling the fundamental challenge of robust, autonomous robot navigation.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Combination of model-based and reactive methods in autonomous navigation16 citations · 2002
- 2GUIDANCE OF AN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE BY VISUAL FEEDBACK12 citations · 1990