PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Juan D. Tardós

Also known as Juan Domingo Tardós Solano

Juan D. Tardós is a robotics researcher whose work focuses on simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) for cameras and other sensors. After earning his doctorate in industrial engineering at the University of Zaragoza in 1991 and spending the 2000–2001 academic year as a visiting professor at MIT, he was appointed full professor at Zaragoza in June 2008. He coauthored the real-time monocular SLAM system ORB-SLAM in 2015, which won a 2016 IEEE Robotics and Automation Society award, as well as ORB-SLAM2 in 2017, ORB-SLAM3 in July 2020 and CudaSIFT-SLAM for human colonoscopies in May 2024. Named an IEEE Fellow in 2022 for his contributions to visual SLAM, he is a full professor in the Department of Computer Science and Systems Engineering at the University of Zaragoza and a researcher in I3A's RoPERT group.

Born
1961

Years link to their sources.

Timeline

  1. 1961–1991

    Industrial engineering at Zaragoza

    Born in Huesca in 1961, he earns an electrical engineering degree in 1985 and a doctorate in industrial engineering from the University of Zaragoza in 1991.

  2. 2000–2001

    Visiting MIT for SLAM

    During the 2000–2001 academic year, he is a visiting professor at MIT, where he works with John J. Leonard on SLAM in large environments and with ultrasonic sensors. In 2001, he and José Neira publish a paper on the joint compatibility test for data association in stochastic mapping in IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation.

  3. 2005–2009

    Full professor and department leadership

    From 2005 to 2009, he serves as deputy head of the Department of Computer Science and Systems Engineering at the University of Zaragoza and coordinates its postgraduate studies in Systems Engineering and Computer Science. A University of Zaragoza resolution in June 2008 appoints him full professor.

  4. 2015–2020

    ORB-SLAM through ORB-SLAM3

    He coauthors ORB-SLAM with Raúl Mur-Artal and J. M. M. Montiel in 2015; the system runs in real time for monocular cameras and wins the 2016 King-Sun Fu Memorial Award for Best Paper from the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society. With Mur-Artal, he publishes ORB-SLAM2 for monocular, stereo and RGB-D cameras in IEEE Transactions on Robotics in 2017. In July 2020, he coauthors the ORB-SLAM3 preprint, which supports visual, visual-inertial and multi-map SLAM with monocular, stereo and RGB-D cameras.

  5. 2019–2021

    A robotics and vision master's

    From 2019 to 2021, he helps propose and launch the University of Zaragoza's master's in Robotics, Graphics and Computer Vision, taught entirely in English.

  6. 2022

    An IEEE Fellowship

    In 2022, IEEE names him a Fellow for his contributions to simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithms with visual sensors, which are applied in virtual and augmented reality.

  7. 2023–2024

    Endomapper and CudaSIFT-SLAM

    With Ana C. Murillo, Angel Lanas and José M. M. Montiel, he publishes the Endomapper dataset of calibrated endoscopy procedures in Scientific Data in 2023. In May 2024, he coauthors the CudaSIFT-SLAM preprint, presenting a visual SLAM system that processes complete human colonoscopies in real time.

  8. As of October 2026

    Full professor at Zaragoza

    In February 2025, he is a professor of Systems Engineering and Automatic Control and a researcher in I3A's RoPERT group. As of October 2026, he is a full professor in the Department of Computer Science and Systems Engineering at the University of Zaragoza, where he teaches courses on robotics and machine learning.

Career

  1. Since 2005University of ZaragozaDeputy head
  2. From 2025I3AResearcher
  3. 2000–2001Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyVisiting professor

Education

  1. 1991University of ZaragozaDoctorate in industrial engineering
  2. 1985University of ZaragozaElectrical engineering degree

From the biography.

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Juan D. Tardós. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  2. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  3. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes University of Zaragoza. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  4. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Includes Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI each year from 1955 to 2025, tracing the shift from university labs to companies.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. Juan Domingo Tardós, I3A researcher, designated fellow by IEEE in Robotics i3a.unizar.es. Checked 22 October 2026.
  2. Perfil (CV) del personal docente investigador sideral.unizar.es. Checked 22 October 2026.
  3. BOE-A-2008-11996 Resolución de 23 de junio de 2008, de la Universidad de Zaragoza, por la que se nombra Catedrático de Universidad a don Juan Domingo Tardós Solano. boe.es. Checked 22 October 2026.
  4. RAS announces Publications Best Paper Award recipients! ieee-ras.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  5. ORB-SLAM: a Versatile and Accurate Monocular SLAM System arxiv.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  6. ORB-SLAM3: An Accurate Open-Source Library for Visual, Visual-Inertial and Multi-Map SLAM arxiv.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  7. [2405.16932] CudaSIFT-SLAM: multiple-map visual SLAM for full procedure mapping in real human endoscopy arxiv.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  8. Charla Juan D. Tardós: Publish or perish: How? (part 2) (viernes 7 de febrero, 9h.) | I3A i3a.unizar.es. Checked 22 October 2026.
  9. Research & innovation activities course - MRGCV sites.google.com. Checked 22 October 2026.