Sharon Laubach
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Papers
8
Total Citations
212
H-Index
6
About
Sharon Laubach is a robotics and autonomous systems researcher whose career has been deeply shaped by the challenges of planetary exploration, particularly Mars rover navigation. Her work sits at the intersection of autonomous path planning, sensor-based motion control, and mobile robotics — fields that became critically important following the success of NASA's Mars Pathfinder mission. Laubach made foundational contributions to developing practical autonomous navigation systems for planetary microrovers, addressing the real-world constraints of rough terrain, limited onboard resources, and communication delays that prior academic work had largely overlooked. Her most influential paper, "An autonomous sensor-based path-planner for planetary microrovers" (2003), has garnered 70 citations and remains a key reference in the field, while her work on the Rocky 7 prototype microrover demonstrated these algorithms in tangible hardware. Her research extended into enhanced Mars rover navigation techniques, integrating intelligent sequencing and visual localization for maximum science return. Beyond algorithm development, Laubach contributed operationally to the Mars Exploration Rover mission, helping evolve the tactical uplink process that enabled daily commanding of two rovers across an extended mission — a remarkable bridge between theoretical research and real planetary operations.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1An autonomous sensor-based path-planner for planetary microrovers70 citations · 2003
- 2An autonomous path planner implemented on the Rocky 7 prototype microrover49 citations · 2002
- 3Enhanced Mars rover navigation techniques43 citations · 2002
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- 5From Prime to Extended Mission: Evolution of the MER Tactical Uplink Process12 citations · 2006
- 6RoverBug: Long range navigation for mars rovers10 citations · 2008
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