# Flexible Supervised Autonomy for Exploration in Subterranean Environments

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.00771 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.00771/

## Key facts

- Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 2 Jan 2023.

## Built on by (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [SceneSense: Diffusion Models for 3D Occupancy Synthesis from Partial Observation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.11985/) (2024)
- [Online Diffusion-Based 3D Occupancy Prediction at the Frontier with Probabilistic Map Reconciliation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.10681/) (2024)
- [Robust Robotic Exploration and Mapping Using Generative Occupancy Map Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.20049/) (2025)
- [Pro-Bench: Prompt-Robust Open-Vocabulary Visual Grounding Across Real-World Heterogeneous Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.27076/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

While the capabilities of autonomous systems have been steadily improving in recent years, these systems still struggle to rapidly explore previously unknown environments without the aid of GPS-assisted navigation. The DARPA Subterranean (SubT) Challenge aimed to fast track the development of autonomous exploration systems by evaluating their performance in real-world underground search-and-rescue scenarios. Subterranean environments present a plethora of challenges for robotic systems, such as limited communications, complex topology, visually-degraded sensing, and harsh terrain. The presented solution enables long-term autonomy with minimal human supervision by combining a powerful and independent single-agent autonomy stack, with higher level mission management operating over a flexible mesh network. The autonomy suite deployed on quadruped and wheeled robots was fully independent, freeing the human supervision to loosely supervise the mission and make high-impact strategic decisions. We also discuss lessons learned from fielding our system at the SubT Final Event, relating to vehicle versatility, system adaptability, and re-configurable communications.