Gamini Dissanayake

About

Gamini Dissanayake is a distinguished robotics researcher whose career has been defined by pioneering contributions to Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) — the foundational challenge of enabling autonomous robots to navigate and build maps of unknown environments concurrently. His work spans theoretical foundations, practical algorithms, and diverse real-world applications, making him one of the most influential figures in mobile robotics. Dissanayake's most celebrated contribution is his rigorous mathematical analysis of Extended Kalman Filter-based SLAM, providing formal convergence and consistency proofs that brought critical theoretical grounding to the field, earning over 400 citations. His research extends across active SLAM, where robots intelligently plan exploration paths under uncertainty, trajectory optimization, and large-scale mapping through innovative submap joining techniques. Notably, he has pushed SLAM into challenging domains including underwater terrain-aided navigation and minimally invasive surgical robotics, with MIS-SLAM demonstrating real-time deformable mapping for surgical applications. His adoption of Gaussian processes for autonomous exploration reflects a commitment to advancing representational sophistication in robotic mapping. With a body of work exceeding 1,100 citations across these ten papers alone, and contributions ranging from foundational reviews to cutting-edge implementations, Dissanayake's research continues to shape how autonomous systems perceive and interact with the world.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Convergence and Consistency Analysis for Extended Kalman Filter Based SLAM

   400 citations · 2007
2. 2
   MIS-SLAM: Real-Time Large-Scale Dense Deformable SLAM System in Minimal Invasive Surgery Based on Heterogeneous Computing

   127 citations · 2018
3. 3
   Active SLAM using Model Predictive Control and Attractor based Exploration

   110 citations · 2006
4. 4
   Towards terrain-aided navigation for underwater robotics

   110 citations · 2001
5. 5
   A review of recent developments in Simultaneous Localization and Mapping

   104 citations · 2011
6. 6
   Gaussian processes autonomous mapping and exploration for range-sensing mobile robots

   98 citations · 2020
7. 7
   Sparse Local Submap Joining Filter for Building Large-Scale Maps

   89 citations · 2008
8. 8
   An efficient multiple hypothesis filter for bearing-only SLAM

   83 citations · 2005
9. 9
   Multi-Step Look-Ahead Trajectory Planning in SLAM: Possibility and Necessity

   82 citations · 2006
10. 10
    Planning under uncertainty using model predictive control for information gathering

    76 citations · 2006

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links