# Gaussian Splatting as a Unified Representation for Autonomy in Unstructured Environments

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.11794 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.11794/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 17 May 2025.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Splatblox: Traversability-Aware Gaussian Splatting for Outdoor Robot Navigation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.18525/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

In this work, we argue that Gaussian splatting is a suitable unified representation for autonomous robot navigation in large-scale unstructured outdoor environments. Such environments require representations that can capture complex structures while remaining computationally tractable for real-time navigation. We demonstrate that the dense geometric and photometric information provided by a Gaussian splatting representation is useful for navigation in unstructured environments. Additionally, semantic information can be embedded in the Gaussian map to enable large-scale task-driven navigation. From the lessons learned through our experiments, we highlight several challenges and opportunities arising from the use of such a representation for robot autonomy.