Sam Greenberg
Papers
2
Total Citations
23
H-Index
2
About
Sam Greenberg’s research lies at the intersection of algorithmic robotics and theoretical computer science, with a primary focus on path planning in unknown environments. His most influential work centers on the D* algorithm, a heuristic planning method that enables robots to navigate initially unknown terrain by continuously updating shortest paths as new obstacles are discovered. In his highly cited 2004 paper, “Improved analysis of D*” (13 citations), Greenberg provided critical theoretical refinements to this algorithm, which has been deployed on Nomad-class robots and Mars rover prototypes. Building on this, his 2005 paper “Bounds on the Travel Cost of a Mars Rover Prototype Search Heuristic” (10 citations) established nearly sharp lower and upper bounds—Ω(n log n / log log n) and O(n log n), respectively—on the worst-case travel cost of the D* heuristic. These contributions not only advanced the mathematical understanding of greedy planning methods but also offered practical guarantees for autonomous exploration in space and terrestrial robotics. Greenberg’s work remains a cornerstone for researchers developing efficient, real-time navigation systems in uncertain environments.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Improved analysis of D*13 citations · 2004
- 2Bounds on the Travel Cost of a Mars Rover Prototype Search Heuristic10 citations · 2005