Paul Foster

University of Michigan–Ann Arbor, Institute of Automation

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Paul Foster is a leading researcher in robotics perception, specializing in the critical challenge of mapping environments containing glass, mirrors, and other specular surfaces. His work addresses a fundamental limitation of standard LIDAR-based mapping, which fails to detect these transparent or highly reflective materials, causing robots to crash or lose localization. Foster’s major contributions include the development of the VisAGGE algorithm (2013, 52 citations), which introduced a visible angle grid to reliably map glass environments, and the more recent Reflectance Field Map (2023), a real-time method that adapts computer graphics light field theory for dynamic LIDAR mapping. His research has been instrumental in enabling safe autonomous navigation in indoor spaces like offices, malls, and hospitals, where glass doors and polished surfaces are ubiquitous. With over 50 citations on his foundational work, Foster’s innovations continue to shape the field of robotic perception, providing practical solutions for one of the most persistent obstacles in real-world robot deployment.