The Waterloo Autonomous Vehicles Laboratory (WAVELab) was founded by Prof. Steven Waslander in 2009 to spearhead research in perception, planning and coordination of autonomous vehicles at the University of Waterloo. Our research goal is to create the next generation of reliable, autonomous robotic vehicles by developing new high-speed algorithms that use a variety of sensors including GPS, vision and Lidar to sense unknown surroundings, develop accurate 3D maps and navigate through the environment safely. Both aerial and ground applications are under investigation, but the underlying theme is that of small platforms with limited payload and computational capabilities.

Supported by a strong undergraduate interest in autonomous vehicles from teams such as the Waterloo Aerial Robotics Group (WARG), the University of Waterloo Micro Air Vehicles Team (UWMAV) and the University of Waterloo Robotics Team (UWRT), the WAVELab is quickly expanding the number and capabilities of robotics platforms for autonomous operation. Our current focus is on the Aeryon Scout quadrotor platform, novel fixed and flapping micro-air vehicles, and coordinated motion of a team of five ground rovers developed by Clearpath Robotics.