Electro-SLAM: Distributed underwater multi-robot SLAM via bio-inspired active and passive electro-sensing

Qiye Yang, Junzheng Zheng, Chen Wang, Minglei Xiong, Guangming Xie, State Key Laboratory of Turbulence and Complex Systems, Intelligent Biomimetic Design Lab, School of Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics, Peking University, Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, National Engineering Research Center of Software Engineering, Peking University, Boya Gongdao , Robot Technology Co, Institute of Ocean Research, Peking University

The International Journal of Robotics Research

Published online on January 19, 2026

Abstract

The International Journal of Robotics Research, Ahead of Print.
This paper presents Electro-SLAM, a novel and fully distributed SLAM system for underwater single- and multi-robot applications, inspired by the electroreception capabilities of weakly electric fish. Departing from conventional vision- or sonar-based ...