Jonathan P. How
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Decision Systems (United States), Stanford University, IIT@MIT, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Northeastern University, Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology, Aerospace Testing (United States)
Papers
123
Total Citations
5,620
H-Index
37
About
Jonathan P. How is a prominent robotics and autonomous systems researcher whose work spans autonomous navigation, motion planning, and multi-robot coordination. A professor at MIT, How has made foundational contributions to some of the most pressing challenges in modern robotics, consistently bridging theoretical rigor with real-world applicability. How's research on socially aware motion planning using deep reinforcement learning (715 citations) transformed how robots navigate pedestrian-rich environments, enabling machines to internalize nuanced human behavioral norms. His path-following guidance methods for unmanned aerial vehicles (423 citations) established critical stability frameworks still referenced in UAV research today. His team's involvement in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge produced influential work on autonomous urban driving and RRT-based motion planning (350 and 215 citations respectively), shaping a generation of self-driving vehicle research. More recently, How has advanced the frontiers of high-speed UAV navigation through the FASTER trajectory planner (157 citations) and aggressive collision avoidance systems (129 citations), while contributing Kimera-Multi (237 citations), a landmark distributed SLAM system for multi-robot teams. His search-and-rescue UAV work further demonstrates his commitment to humanitarian applications. Across more than 2,600 citations from these papers alone, How's career reflects a remarkable synthesis of theoretical innovation and transformative practical impact.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Socially aware motion planning with deep reinforcement learning715 citations · 2017
- 2Performance and Lyapunov Stability of a Nonlinear Path Following Guidance Method423 citations · 2007
- 3Autonomous driving in urban environments: approaches, lessons and challenges350 citations · 2010
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- 7Motion planning for urban driving using RRT215 citations · 2008
- 8FASTER: Fast and Safe Trajectory Planner for Navigation in Unknown Environments157 citations · 2021
- 9Aggressive 3-D collision avoidance for high-speed navigation129 citations · 2017
- 10Search and rescue under the forest canopy using multiple UAVs122 citations · 2020