Papers
23
Total Citations
371
H-Index
12
About
Geb Thomas is a multidisciplinary researcher whose work spans robotics, human-robot interaction, astrobiology, and occupational health and safety. He has made significant contributions to the field of robotic exploration, most notably through his involvement in landmark projects such as the Nomad rover's autonomous traversal of Chile's Atacama Desert and the Marsokhod rover simulation experiments that directly informed planning for Mars surface missions. His early work on virtual reality-based telerobotics and instrumented glove interfaces — garnering over 50 combined citations — helped pioneer intuitive methods for human operators to specify complex robotic grasps, advancing the usability of remote robotic systems in industrial and space contexts. Thomas's ecological mapping research through the "Life in the Atacama" project demonstrated how robotic rovers could autonomously assess biological signatures and habitability in Mars-analog environments, contributing frameworks still relevant to planetary exploration today. More recently, he expanded his scope into workplace safety, developing multi-sensor networks to map occupational hazards in manufacturing facilities, reflecting a commitment to applying sensing technology for real-world human benefit. With nearly 290 cumulative citations across a diverse publication record, Thomas exemplifies a researcher who bridges fundamental science, engineering innovation, and practical application across remarkably varied domains.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Developing Nomad for robotic exploration of the Atacama Desert59 citations · 1999
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- 6Virtual Tools for Supervisory and Collaborative Control of Robots30 citations · 1997
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