R. Unnikrishnan
Papers
7
Total Citations
244
H-Index
7
About
R. Unnikrishnan is a pioneering researcher whose work spans robotics, computer vision, and socially impactful human-robot interaction. His key research areas include 3D point cloud classification, autonomous vehicle navigation, and social robotics for public health. Unnikrishnan’s major contributions include developing scale-selection methods for classifying point-sampled 3D surfaces—a foundational technique for outdoor mobile robots navigating natural terrain—and creating infrastructure-free automated guided vehicles that leverage computer vision to operate without costly environmental modifications. His work on globally consistent mapping and large-scale appearance mosaics has advanced low-cost, high-performance visual navigation for autonomous vehicles. With over 240 total citations, his most influential paper, “Scale Selection for Classification of Point-Sampled 3-D Surfaces” (95 citations), remains a key reference in 3D scene understanding. Notably, Unnikrishnan has applied his expertise to social robotics, designing “Pepe,” a robot that successfully influenced hand-washing behavior among school children in rural India, demonstrating the real-world impact of his research. This work, published in 2019, highlights his commitment to using technology for social good, bridging advanced robotics with community health interventions.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Scale Selection for Classification of Point-Sampled 3-D Surfaces95 citations · 2005
- 2
- 3A constrained optimization approach to globally consistent mapping19 citations · 2003
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7