Intrepid Robots

K. M. Brian Lee is a roboticist devoted to making robots more autonomous in unknown, unstructured environments. As a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Contextual Robotics Institute, UC San Diego, his current research asks how to build richer geometric representations that connect perception to planning, along with algorithms that exploit them, so that robots can move beyond binary notions of safety; for example, planning over free-space bubbles in configuration space, or treating physical contact as a resource to exploit rather than a hazard to avoid. His PhD introduced robotic prospection, equipping robots with the foresight to actively explore the unknown and gather task-relevant information, with applications spanning underwater, aerial, and multi-robot systems.

Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Technology Sydney, where he also received his Ph.D. degree in Robotics. He received the B.Eng. (Hons I) degree in Mechatronics (Space) from the University of Sydney. He was recognized as an RSS Pioneer in 2023 and received the UTS Research Excellence Scholarship.