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Chris Urmson - IEEE Xplore Author Profile
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Chris Urmson

Also published under: C. P. Urmson, C. Urmson, Chirs Urmson

Publications
21
Citations
1,108
Publications by Year
19982011
Co-Authors:
Show All Co-Authors (37)
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Chris Urmson

Also published under: C. P. Urmson, C. Urmson, Chirs Urmson

Affiliation

Google, Inc., USA

Publication Topics

Biography

Chris Urmson received the B.Sc. degree in computer engineering from the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, in 1998 and the Ph.D. degree in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, in 2005.,He is currently an Assistant Research Professor with the Field Robotics Center, Carnegie Mellon University. He has served as the Director of Technology for the Urban Challenge with Carnegie Mellon University and as a Robotics Research Scientist with the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC).,Dr. Urmson was the Technical Leader for the Tartan Racing team, which won the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge. He has been the recipient of several technical awards, including the SAIC Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Technolo...
Publications
21
Citations
1,108
Publications by Year
19982011
Co-Authors:
Show All Co-Authors (37)
Author's Published Works

Showing 1-21 of 21 results

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Traffic light mapping and detection

Nathaniel Fairfield;Chris Urmson

2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
Year: 2011 | Conference Paper |
The outdoor perception problem is a major challenge for driver-assistance and autonomous vehicle systems. While these systems can often employ active sensors such as sonar, radar, and lidar to perceive their surroundings, the state of standard traffic lights can only be perceived visually. By using a prior map, a perception system can anticipate and predict the locations of traffic lights and impr...Show More

Traffic light mapping and detection

Nathaniel Fairfield;Chris Urmson

Year: 2011 | Conference Paper |

Motion planning for autonomous driving with a conformal spatiotemporal lattice

Matthew McNaughton;Chris Urmson;John M. Dolan;Jin-Woo Lee

2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
Year: 2011 | Conference Paper |
We present a motion planner for autonomous highway driving that adapts the state lattice framework pioneered for planetary rover navigation to the structured environment of public roadways. The main contribution of this paper is a search space representation that allows the search algorithm to systematically and efficiently explore both spatial and temporal dimensions in real time. This allows the...Show More

Motion planning for autonomous driving with a conformal spatiotemporal lattice

Matthew McNaughton;Chris Urmson;John M. Dolan;Jin-Woo Lee

Year: 2011 | Conference Paper |

Building lane-graphs for autonomous parking

Young-Woo Seo;Chris Urmson;David Wettergreen;Jin-Woo Lee

2010 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
Year: 2010 | Conference Paper |
Cited by: Papers (5) | Patents (2)
An autonomous robotic vehicle can drive through and park in a lot more reliably if it is guided by a parking lot map. This specialized map creates structure, including the centerlines of drivable regions and intersection locations in an often unstructured and unmarked environment and enables the vehicle to focus its attention on regions that require detailed analysis. Existing methods of building ...Show More

Building lane-graphs for autonomous parking

Young-Woo Seo;Chris Urmson;David Wettergreen;Jin-Woo Lee

Year: 2010 | Conference Paper |

FAHR: Focused A* Heuristic Recomputation

Matthew McNaughton;Chris Urmson

2009 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
Year: 2009 | Conference Paper |
In this paper we introduce focused A* heuristic recomputation (FAHR), an enhancement to A* search that can detect and correct large discrepancies between the heuristic cost-to-go estimate and the true cost function. In situations where these large discrepancies exist, the search may expend significant effort escaping from the ¿bowl¿ of a local minimum. A* typically computes supporting data structu...Show More

FAHR: Focused A* Heuristic Recomputation

Matthew McNaughton;Chris Urmson

Year: 2009 | Conference Paper |

Utilizing prior information to enhance self-supervised aerial image analysis for extracting parking lot structures

Young-Woo Seo;Chris Urmson

2009 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
Year: 2009 | Conference Paper |
Cited by: Papers (14)
Road network information (RNI) simplifies autonomous driving by providing strong priors about driving environments. Its usefulness has been demonstrated in the DARPA Urban Challenge. However, the need to manually generate RNI prevents us from fully exploiting its benefits. We envision an aerial image analysis system that automatically generates RNI for a route between two urban locations. As a ste...Show More

Utilizing prior information to enhance self-supervised aerial image analysis for extracting parking lot structures

Young-Woo Seo;Chris Urmson

Year: 2009 | Conference Paper |

Obstacle Detection and Tracking for the Urban Challenge

Michael S. Darms;Paul E. Rybski;Christopher Baker;Chris Urmson

IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems
Year: 2009 | Volume: 10, Issue: 3 | Journal Article |
This paper describes the obstacle detection and tracking algorithms developed for Boss, which is Carnegie Mellon University 's winning entry in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge. We describe the tracking subsystem and show how it functions in the context of the larger perception system. The tracking subsystem gives the robot the ability to understand complex scenarios of urban driving to safely opera...Show More

Obstacle Detection and Tracking for the Urban Challenge

Michael S. Darms;Paul E. Rybski;Christopher Baker;Chris Urmson

Year: 2009 | Volume: 10, Issue: 3 | Journal Article |

A perception mechanism for supporting autonomous intersection handling in urban driving

Young-Woo Seo;Chris Urmson

2008 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
Year: 2008 | Conference Paper |
Cited by: Papers (5) | Patents (3)
Knowledge of the driving environment is essential for robotic vehicles to comply with traffic rules while autonomously traversing intersections. However, due to limited sensing coverage and continuous changes in driving conditions, rigidly-mounted sensors may not guarantee coverage of all regions of interest, all the time. Unobserved regions around intersections increase uncertainty in driving con...Show More

A perception mechanism for supporting autonomous intersection handling in urban driving

Young-Woo Seo;Chris Urmson

Year: 2008 | Conference Paper |

From Automated Highways to Urban Challenges

Chirs Urmson;Dave Duggins;Todd Jochem;Dean Pomerleau;Chuck Thorpe

2008 IEEE International Conference on Vehicular Electronics and Safety
Year: 2008 | Conference Paper |
Cited by: Papers (4)
This paper describes autonomous vehicle and driver assistance research beginning with the 1997 National Automated Highway System Consortium Demonstration. As a microcosm of the community at large we discuss how Carnegie Mellon autonomous vehicle research has progressed in the last decade. Since the demonstration we have formed two companies: AssistWare became a leading developer of lane departure ...Show More

From Automated Highways to Urban Challenges

Chirs Urmson;Dave Duggins;Todd Jochem;Dean Pomerleau;Chuck Thorpe

Year: 2008 | Conference Paper |

Classification and tracking of dynamic objects with multiple sensors for autonomous driving in urban environments

Michael Darms;Paul Rybski;Chris Urmson

2008 IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium
Year: 2008 | Conference Paper |
Future driver assistance systems are likely to use a multisensor approach with heterogeneous sensors for tracking dynamic objects around the vehicle. The quality and type of data available for a data fusion algorithm depends heavily on the sensors detecting an object. This article presents a general framework which allows the use sensor specific advantages while abstracting the specific details of...Show More

Classification and tracking of dynamic objects with multiple sensors for autonomous driving in urban environments

Michael Darms;Paul Rybski;Chris Urmson

Year: 2008 | Conference Paper |

Detection, prediction, and avoidance of dynamic obstacles in urban environments

Dave Ferguson;Michael Darms;Chris Urmson;Sascha Kolski

2008 IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium
Year: 2008 | Conference Paper |
We present an approach for robust detection, prediction, and avoidance of dynamic obstacles in urban environments. After detecting a dynamic obstacle, our approach exploits structure in the environment where possible to generate a set of likely hypotheses for the future behavior of the obstacle and efficiently incorporates these hypotheses into the planning process to produce safe actions. The tec...Show More

Detection, prediction, and avoidance of dynamic obstacles in urban environments

Dave Ferguson;Michael Darms;Chris Urmson;Sascha Kolski

Year: 2008 | Conference Paper |

Self-Driving Cars and the Urban Challenge

Chris Urmson;William "Red" Whittaker

IEEE Intelligent Systems
Year: 2008 | Volume: 23, Issue: 2 | Magazine Article |
This article provides a brief overview of the benefits of autonomous vehicles and Boss, the autonomous vehicle that won the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge. Autonomous vehicles will improve traffic safety, increase fuel efficiency, and help reconnect the elderly and disabled to our society. Autonomous-vehicle research has been active for the last 20 years, with the recent Urban Challenge building treme...Show More

Self-Driving Cars and the Urban Challenge

Chris Urmson;William "Red" Whittaker

Year: 2008 | Volume: 23, Issue: 2 | Magazine Article |

A Complete System for High-Speed Navigation of Prescribed Routes

Chris Urmson;Alexander Gutierrez;Nick Miller;Kevin Peterson;Spencer Spiker;Josh Struble;William Whittaker

2006 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
Year: 2006 | Conference Paper |
Cited by: Papers (1) | Patents (1)
This paper presents an approach that achieves robust high-speed navigation of prescribed routes. We present the mechatronic and software considerations that resulted in two robots that have completed over 4000 km of autonomous navigation of trails and off-road terrain at an average speed of approximately 30 km/h, with sustained top speeds of 55 km/hShow More

A Complete System for High-Speed Navigation of Prescribed Routes

Chris Urmson;Alexander Gutierrez;Nick Miller;Kevin Peterson;Spencer Spiker;Josh Struble;William Whittaker

Year: 2006 | Conference Paper |

Driving Beyond Stopping Distance Constraints

Chris Urmson

2006 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
Year: 2006 | Conference Paper |
Cited by: Papers (10)
This paper discusses swerving as an alternative for stopping as a primary obstacle avoidance maneuver. By swerving instead of stopping, we show it is possible to achieve significantly higher-speeds given the same sensor capability. We have demonstrated navigation at speeds which rely on the principles described in this paperShow More

Driving Beyond Stopping Distance Constraints

Chris Urmson

Year: 2006 | Conference Paper |

Testing driver skill for high-speed autonomous vehicles

Chris Urmson;William Whittaker;Sam Harbaugh;Michael Clark;Phillip Koon

Computer
Year: 2006 | Volume: 39, Issue: 12 | Magazine Article |
Cited by: Papers (5)
The 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, a 212-kilometer race through the Mojave Desert, showcased the state of the art in high-speed, autonomous navigation of trails and roads. To win the challenge, a team's robot had to complete the course faster than any other robot, and it had to do so within 10 hours. Carnegie Mellon University's Red Team developed two robots, which used a combination of autonomous an...Show More

Testing driver skill for high-speed autonomous vehicles

Chris Urmson;William Whittaker;Sam Harbaugh;Michael Clark;Phillip Koon

Year: 2006 | Volume: 39, Issue: 12 | Magazine Article |

First Experiments in the Robotic Investigation of Life in the Atacama Desert of Chile

D. Wettergreen;N. Cabrol;J. Teza;P. Tompkins;C. Urmson;V. Verma;M. Wagner;W. Whittaker

Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
Year: 2005 | Conference Paper |
Cited by: Papers (18)
The Atacama Desert of northern Chile may be the most lifeless place on Earth, yet where the desert meets the Pacific coastal range desiccation-tolerant micro-organisms are known to exist. The gradient of biodiversity and habitats in the Atacama’s subregions remain unexplored and are the focus of the Life in the Atacama project. To conduct this investigation, long traverses must be made across the ...Show More

First Experiments in the Robotic Investigation of Life in the Atacama Desert of Chile

D. Wettergreen;N. Cabrol;J. Teza;P. Tompkins;C. Urmson;V. Verma;M. Wagner;W. Whittaker

Year: 2005 | Conference Paper |

Approaches for heuristically biasing RRT growth

C. Urmson;R. Simmons

Proceedings 2003 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2003) (Cat. No.03CH37453)
Year: 2003 | Conference Paper |
This paper presents several modifications to the basic rapidly-exploring random tree (RRT) search algorithm. The fundamental idea is to utilize a heuristic quality function to guide the search. Results from a relevant simulation experiment illustrate the benefit and drawbacks of the developed algorithms. The paper concludes with several promising directions for future research.Show More

Approaches for heuristically biasing RRT growth

C. Urmson;R. Simmons

Year: 2003 | Volume: 2 | Conference Paper |

Stereo vision based navigation for Sun-synchronous exploration

C.P. Urmson;M.B. Dias;R.G. Simmons

IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
Year: 2002 | Conference Paper |
This paper describes the navigation system used on a prototype sun-synchronous robot. Sun-synchrony is a concept that will enable exploration missions by solar-powered rovers that could last months or years. This paper presents the navigation algorithms developed for traversing natural terrain robustly. The novel elements of this work are the refinements necessary to transform laboratory-demonstra...Show More

Stereo vision based navigation for Sun-synchronous exploration

C.P. Urmson;M.B. Dias;R.G. Simmons

Year: 2002 | Volume: 1 | Conference Paper |

First experiment in sun-synchronous exploration

D. Wettergreen;B. Dias;B. Shamah;J. Teza;P. Tompkins;C. Urmson;M. Wagner;W. Whittaker

Proceedings 2002 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.02CH37292)
Year: 2002 | Conference Paper |
Cited by: Papers (12)
Sun-synchronous exploration is accomplished by reasoning about sunlight: where the Sun is in the sky, where and when shadows will fall, and how much power can be obtained through various courses of action. In July 2001 a solar-powered rover, named Hyperion, completed two sun-synchronous exploration experiments in the Canadian high arctic (75/spl deg/N). Using knowledge of orbital mechanics, local ...Show More

First experiment in sun-synchronous exploration

D. Wettergreen;B. Dias;B. Shamah;J. Teza;P. Tompkins;C. Urmson;M. Wagner;W. Whittaker

Year: 2002 | Volume: 4 | Conference Paper |

Skyworker: a robot for assembly, inspection and maintenance of large scale orbital facilities

P.J. Staritz;S. Skaff;C. Urmson;W. Whittaker

Proceedings 2001 ICRA. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.01CH37164)
Year: 2001 | Conference Paper |
Future space facilities that could power our planet and expand our horizons will differ vastly from the satellites and space stations familiar today. Characterized by their immense size and the difficulties of human construction in orbit, future space facilities will be assembled in part by robots. This paper profiles Skyworker, a prototype assembly, inspection, and maintenance (AIM) robot designe...Show More

Skyworker: a robot for assembly, inspection and maintenance of large scale orbital facilities

P.J. Staritz;S. Skaff;C. Urmson;W. Whittaker

Year: 2001 | Volume: 4 | Conference Paper |

Video compression through fractal block coding

C. Urmson;K. Ferens

Conference Proceedings. IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering (Cat. No.98TH8341)
Year: 1998 | Conference Paper |
This report presents a technique for encoding motion video using a modified fractal block coding algorithm. The encoding algorithm is used as the main component in a video transmission system. The algorithm performs a reduced search through the domain block pool. To enhance performance, the domain block pool is partitioned and a cache is used, where an 8% improvement is shown. Through these techni...Show More

Video compression through fractal block coding

C. Urmson;K. Ferens

Year: 1998 | Volume: 2 | Conference Paper |

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