Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Michael Dille’s research sits at the intersection of robotics, perception, and planetary exploration, where he develops novel sensing and manipulation systems for challenging, real-world environments. He is best known for pioneering work in ground penetrating radar (GPR)-based robot localization, introducing learned factor graph models that enable autonomous navigation without prior maps or GPS—a breakthrough documented in his highly cited 2021 paper (24 citations). His foundational contributions also include outdoor downward-facing optical flow odometry using commodity sensors (49 citations), which demonstrated robust, low-cost visual odometry for field robotics. Dille has further advanced space robotics through the design of a gecko-adhesive gripper for NASA’s Astrobee free-flying robot (11 citations), enabling reliable grasping in microgravity. His work on the CMU-GPR dataset (8 citations) has become a key resource for the radar navigation community, while his PHALANX concept for expendable projectile sensor networks (6 citations) pushes the boundaries of planetary science measurement. More recently, he has developed a ROS-based system for real-time river flow mapping using particle image velocimetry (4 citations). Dille’s research consistently bridges theory and deployment, earning recognition for its impact on autonomous navigation, space exploration, and environmental monitoring.