mlsanityData to 14 Oct 2026

Voxblox: Incremental 3D Euclidean Signed Distance Fields for On-Board MAV Planning

arXiv 1611.03631 ↗First posted 11 Nov 2016cs.ROcited by 150

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Abstract (arXiv)

Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) that operate in unstructured, unexplored environments require fast and flexible local planning, which can replan when new parts of the map are explored. Trajectory optimization methods fulfill these needs, but require obstacle distance information, which can be given by Euclidean Signed Distance Fields (ESDFs). We propose a method to incrementally build ESDFs from Truncated Signed Distance Fields (TSDFs), a common implicit surface representation used in computer graphics and vision. TSDFs are fast to build and smooth out sensor noise over many observations, and are designed to produce surface meshes. Meshes allow human operators to get a better assessment of the robot's environment, and set high-level mission goals. We show that we can build TSDFs faster than Octomaps, and that it is more accurate to build ESDFs out of TSDFs than occupancy maps. Our complete system, called voxblox, will be available as open source and runs in real-time on a single CPU core. We validate our approach on-board an MAV, by using our system with a trajectory optimization local planner, entirely on-board and in real-time.

Key facts. Cited by 150 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). First posted on arXiv 11 Nov 2016.

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Citing papers per year: 2021: 15; 2022: 28; 2023: 27; 2024: 29; 2025: 27; 2026: 24.

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  1. 2023SplaTAM: Splat, Track & Map 3D Gaussians for Dense RGB-D SLAMcited by 388
  2. 2023Point-SLAM: Dense Neural Point Cloud-based SLAMcited by 160
  3. 2023Gaussian-SLAM: Photo-realistic Dense SLAM with Gaussian Splattingcited by 154
  4. 2021Kimera: from SLAM to Spatial Perception with 3D Dynamic Scene Graphscited by 144
  5. 2021Learning High-Speed Flight in the Wildcited by 128
  6. 2022iSDF: Real-Time Neural Signed Distance Fields for Robot Perceptioncited by 109
  7. 2024Splat-SLAM: Globally Optimized RGB-only SLAM with 3D Gaussianscited by 66
  8. 2024CG-SLAM: Efficient Dense RGB-D SLAM in a Consistent Uncertainty-aware 3D Gaussian Fieldcited by 61
  9. 2024LoopSplat: Loop Closure by Registering 3D Gaussian Splatscited by 60
  10. 2024Loopy-SLAM: Dense Neural SLAM with Loop Closurescited by 48
  11. 2022SHINE-Mapping: Large-Scale 3D Mapping Using Sparse Hierarchical Implicit Neural Representationscited by 44
  12. 2024PIN-SLAM: LiDAR SLAM Using a Point-Based Implicit Neural Representation for Achieving Global Map Consistencycited by 42
38 more
  1. 2024GlORIE-SLAM: Globally Optimized RGB-only Implicit Encoding Point Cloud SLAMcited by 36
  2. 2023Active Neural Mappingcited by 31
  3. 2024Bootstrapping Reinforcement Learning with Imitation for Vision-Based Agile Flightcited by 31
  4. 2025What Is The Best 3D Scene Representation for Robotics? From Geometric to Foundation Modelscited by 29
  5. 2022S-Graphs+: Real-time Localization and Mapping leveraging Hierarchical Representationscited by 28
  6. 2023Grid-Centric Traffic Scenario Perception for Autonomous Driving: A Comprehensive Reviewcited by 25
  7. 2023Resilient Legged Local Navigation: Learning to Traverse with Compromised Perception End-to-Endcited by 23
  8. 2024GSFusion: Online RGB-D Mapping Where Gaussian Splatting Meets TSDF Fusioncited by 20
  9. 2023UncLe-SLAM: Uncertainty Learning for Dense Neural SLAMcited by 19
  10. 2025GSFix3D: Diffusion-Guided Repair of Novel Views in Gaussian Splattingcited by 18
  11. 2022FD-SLAM: 3-D Reconstruction Using Features and Dense Matchingcited by 17
  12. 2022N2M2: Learning Navigation for Arbitrary Mobile Manipulation Motions in Unseen and Dynamic Environmentscited by 16
  13. 2022Probabilistic Volumetric Fusion for Dense Monocular SLAMcited by 16
  14. 2021DPMPC-Planner: A real-time UAV trajectory planning framework for complex static environments with dynamic obstaclescited by 15
  15. 2021From SLAM to Situational Awareness: Challenges and Surveycited by 15
  16. 2023Contrastive Learning for Enhancing Robust Scene Transfer in Vision-based Agile Flightcited by 15
  17. 2021NeuralBlox: Real-Time Neural Representation Fusion for Robust Volumetric Mappingcited by 14
  18. 2022A Review on Viewpoints and Path-planning for UAV-based 3D Reconstructioncited by 14
  19. 2023Panoptic Mapping with Fruit Completion and Pose Estimation for Horticultural Robotscited by 14
  20. 2021A Real-Time Online Learning Framework for Joint 3D Reconstruction and Semantic Segmentation of Indoor Scenescited by 12
  21. 2022Neural Scene Representation for Locomotion on Structured Terraincited by 12
  22. 2021ASH: A Modern Framework for Parallel Spatial Hashing in 3D Perceptioncited by 11
  23. 2023ImMesh: An Immediate LiDAR Localization and Meshing Frameworkcited by 11
  24. 2023MEM: Multi-Modal Elevation Mapping for Robotics and Learningcited by 11
  25. 2023ConvBKI: Real-Time Probabilistic Semantic Mapping Network with Quantifiable Uncertaintycited by 11
  26. 2024DUFOMap: Efficient Dynamic Awareness Mappingcited by 11
  27. 2024Diffusion Models in 3D Vision: A Surveycited by 11
  28. 2022RGB-Only Reconstruction of Tabletop Scenes for Collision-Free Manipulator Controlcited by 10
  29. 2025PINGS: Gaussian Splatting Meets Distance Fields within a Point-Based Implicit Neural Mapcited by 10
  30. 2022Vision-aided UAV navigation and dynamic obstacle avoidance using gradient-based B-spline trajectory optimizationcited by 9
  31. 2022NBV-SC: Next Best View Planning based on Shape Completion for Fruit Mapping and Reconstructioncited by 9
  32. 2023EVI-SAM: Robust, Real-time, Tightly-coupled Event-Visual-Inertial State Estimation and 3D Dense Mappingcited by 9
  33. 2022Convolutional Bayesian Kernel Inference for 3D Semantic Mappingcited by 8
  34. 2023A Dynamic Points Removal Benchmark in Point Cloud Mapscited by 8
  35. 2025SG-Reg: Generalizable and Efficient Scene Graph Registrationcited by 8
  36. 2022SC-Explorer: Incremental 3D Scene Completion for Safe and Efficient Exploration Mapping and Planningcited by 7
  37. 2022City-scale Incremental Neural Mapping with Three-layer Sampling and Panoptic Representationcited by 7
  38. 2023Probabilistic Point Cloud Modeling via Self-Organizing Gaussian Mixture Modelscited by 7

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