Publications

Papers & Conferences

Peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, and journal articles in robotics, navigation, and aerospace systems.

5
Publications
4
Conferences
1
Journal
2025
Latest Year
2025
Conference
Optimization-based motion planning for vector field following in dynamic environments
D. Akhihiero, U. Olawoye, and G. A. Pereira
International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS) · 2025
This work presents an optimization-based motion planning approach for vector field following in dynamic environments, enabling UAVs to track smooth trajectories while reacting to changing obstacles and environmental conditions.
Conference
Experimental analysis of quadcopter drone hover constraints for localization improvements
U. Olawoye, D. Akhihiero, and J. N. Gross
IEEE/ION Position, Location and Navigation Symposium (PLANS) · 2025
This paper presents an experimental analysis of the hover constraints present in quadcopter UAVs and how they can be exploited as pseudo-measurements to improve localization accuracy in cooperative navigation scenarios.
Conference
Analysis of the unscented transform for cooperative localization with only inter-vehicle ranging information
U. Olawoye, C. Kilic, and J. N. Gross
IEEE/ION Position, Location and Navigation Symposium (PLANS) · 2025
This work analyzes the unscented transform (UT) as a nonlinear estimation tool for cooperative localization using only inter-vehicle ranging measurements, evaluating accuracy and consistency compared to alternative approaches in GNSS-denied conditions.
2024
Journal
Cooperative localization for GNSS-denied subterranean navigation: A UAV–UGV team approach
D. Akhihiero, U. Olawoye, S. Das, and J. Gross
NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation · vol. 71, no. 4 · 2024
This paper presents a cooperative localization framework for a UAV–UGV team operating in GNSS-denied subterranean environments such as underground tunnels. The approach integrates Factor Graph Optimization for UAV localization and SLAM for UGV navigation, validated through both simulation and real-world tunnel experiments.
2023
Conference
UAV position estimation using a LiDAR-based 3D object detection method
U. Olawoye and J. N. Gross
IEEE/ION Position, Location and Navigation Symposium (PLANS) · 2023
This paper presents a LiDAR-based UAV position estimation method using the PointPillars deep learning architecture for real-time 3D object detection. A dataset of over 7,000 annotated LiDAR scans was created, and the method achieves a 30% improvement in localization accuracy over traditional point cloud clustering methods.
Speaking

Conference Presentations

Talks and paper presentations at international venues.

2025
ICUAS 2025
📍 International Conference on UAS
Paper Presentation — Motion Planning
2025
IEEE/ION PLANS 2025
📍 Position, Location & Navigation Symp.
2× Paper Presentations
2023
IEEE/ION PLANS 2023
📍 Position, Location & Navigation Symp.
Paper Presentation — LiDAR UAV
Service

Reviewing & Volunteering

2025
IEEE Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE) — Reviewer
2025
IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems (TAES) — Reviewer
2025
WVU Undergraduate Research Symposium — Judge
2024–25
Vex Robotics Competition (WVU MAE Mountaineer) — Judge, High School & Middle School Qualifiers
2024–25
West Virginia Science Bowl — Questions Judge, Rules Judge, ScoreKeeper
2024
NSF-Funded REU — Undergraduate Robotics Research for Rural Appalachia (WVU)
Technical Skills

Languages, Libraries & Tools

Languages

Python C++ MATLAB

Libraries

OpenCV TensorFlow PyTorch GTSAM PCL

Software & Tools

ROS CoppeliaSim Gazebo ANSYS Simulink AutoCAD RTKlib Git