Hi everyone,

A kind reminder about today’s seminar as detailed below. A light lunch will be served from 12.30pm:

Faculty of Engineering ACFR Seminar Series

Coordination Algorithms for Multi-Robot Systems in the Wild

Presented by Dr. Graeme Best
Date: Thursday, 21 May 2026, at 1:00 pm AEDT
Venue: ACFR seminar area, J04 level 2 (Rose St Building)
Zoom ID: https://uni-sydney.zoom.us/s/87306457455

**RSVP by Tuesday 19 May for catering purposes. Accept this calendar invitation if you plan to attend the seminar in person and join us for a light lunch at approximately 12.30pm.

Abstract:

Multi-robot systems have the potential to operate at larger scales and with greater resilience than individual robots, but this requires coordination algorithms that remain useful beyond idealised laboratory settings. In this seminar, I will present several planning and coordination algorithms for robot teams operating in complex outdoor environments, with a particular focus on active perception: planning robot motion and observation viewpoints to improve high-level understanding of the world while accounting for motion, communication, and task constraints. The talk will connect several threads from my research, including decentralised Monte Carlo tree search (Dec-MCTS), communication-aware coordination, coalition formation, synthesising behaviour trees, communication of maps or intent, and sequential task allocation. I will discuss how these ideas have been applied across real-world field robotics contexts, including subterranean exploration, high-speed ground robot surveillance, and marine environmental monitoring.

Bio:

Dr Graeme Best is a Senior Lecturer in the Robotics Institute at the University of Technology Sydney. His research focuses on developing autonomy for multi-robot systems in challenging outdoor environments, with contributions ranging from new fundamental algorithms to full-scale system demonstrations. He completed postdoctoral studies at Oregon State University, where he participated in the DARPA Subterranean Challenge with Carnegie Mellon University. He earned his PhD from The University of Sydney (2019) and his BEng and BSc from Monash University, and has also worked at DSTG’s Maritime Division and the CSIRO Autonomous Systems Lab. Dr Best is a recipient of a Google Research Scholar Program Award and multiple best paper awards and nominations at international robotics conferences, including RSS, ICRA, and IROS. At UTS, he is the Mechatronics Major Coordinator and teaches Space Robotics and project-based robotics subjects. He is actively involved with the broader robotics research community as an editor and workshop organiser and is currently a Local Arrangements Chair for the upcoming Robotics: Science and Systems conference to be held in Sydney.

Copyright © 2026 

The University of Sydney

Please add acfr.admin@sydney.edu.au to your address book or senders safe list to make sure you continue to see our emails in the future.

Cricos Code 00026A  TEQSA PRV12057
Disclaimer | Privacy statement |

Best regards,

Sabrina

Sabrina Asri | Senior Admin Officer            
The University of Sydney                           
Faculty of Engineering, Australian Centre for Robotics

Rose Street Building J04 | The University of Sydney | NSW | 2006
+61 2 9351 7126 | sabrina.asri@sydney.edu.au | sydney.edu.au

CRICOS 00026A TEQSA PRV12057
This email plus any attachments to it are confidential. Any unauthorised use is strictly prohibited.  
If you receive this email in error, please delete it and any attachments.

Please think of our environment and only print this email if necessary.