# Towards Collaborative Simultaneous Localization and Mapping: a Survey of the Current Research Landscape

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2108.08325 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.08325/

## Key facts

- Cited by 15 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 18 Aug 2021.

## Built on by (most cited first, 15 of 15)

- [Learning Multi-Agent Communication from Graph Modeling Perspective](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.08550/) (2024)
- [Swarm-SLAM : Sparse Decentralized Collaborative Simultaneous Localization and Mapping Framework for Multi-Robot Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.06230/) (2023)
- [Beyond Robustness: A Taxonomy of Approaches towards Resilient Multi-Robot Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.12343/) (2021)
- [S3E: A Multi-Robot Multimodal Dataset for Collaborative SLAM](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.13723/) (2022)
- [A Robot Web for Distributed Many-Device Localisation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.03314/) (2022)
- [CoPeD-Advancing Multi-Robot Collaborative Perception: A Comprehensive Dataset in Real-World Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.14731/) (2024)
- [Self-Supervised Domain Calibration and Uncertainty Estimation for Place Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.04446/) (2022)
- [MAC-Ego3D: Multi-Agent Gaussian Consensus for Real-Time Collaborative Ego-Motion and Photorealistic 3D Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.09723/) (2024)
- [Improving Visual Place Recognition with Sequence-Matching Receptiveness Prediction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.06840/) (2025)
- [Efficient and Distributed Large-Scale 3D Map Registration using Tomographic Features](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.19461/) (2024)
- [Map++: Towards User-Participatory Visual SLAM Systems with Efficient Map Expansion and Sharing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.02553/) (2024)
- [Communication Learning in Multi-Agent Systems from Graph Modeling Perspective](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.00382/) (2024)
- [ConfidentSplat: Confidence-Weighted Depth Fusion for Accurate 3D Gaussian Splatting SLAM](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.16863/) (2025)
- [MR-SLAM: Immersive Spatial Supervision for Multi-Robot Mapping via Mixed Reality](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.16432/) (2026)
- [CGS-SLAM: Collaborative Gaussian Splatting based SLAM for Multi-Agent Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.26868/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Motivated by the tremendous progress we witnessed in recent years, this paper presents a survey of the scientific literature on the topic of Collaborative Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (C-SLAM), also known as multi-robot SLAM. With fleets of self-driving cars on the horizon and the rise of multi-robot systems in industrial applications, we believe that Collaborative SLAM will soon become a cornerstone of future robotic applications. In this survey, we introduce the basic concepts of C-SLAM and present a thorough literature review. We also outline the major challenges and limitations of C-SLAM in terms of robustness, communication, and resource management. We conclude by exploring the area's current trends and promising research avenues.