Nils Nilsson
Nils Nilsson received his doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford in 1958. His later work at SRI covered statistical and neural-network approaches to pattern recognition. During 23 years at SRI’s AI Center, Nilsson co-invented the A* search algorithm and STRIPS planning system. He also co-directed Shakey, which brought perception, planning and robot action into one research system. Nilsson returned to Stanford in 1985 and chaired its computer science department until August 1990. His subsequent robot research addressed action in changing environments and learning from experience.
- Works
- 184
- Citations
- 40,842
- h-index
- 33
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 14 October 2026.
Timeline
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1958
Stanford doctorate
Nils Nilsson received his doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford in 1958. His later work at SRI covered statistical and neural-network approaches to pattern recognition.
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SRI research
Search, plans and Shakey
During 23 years at SRI’s AI Center, Nilsson co-invented the A* search algorithm and STRIPS planning system. He also co-directed Shakey, which brought perception, planning and robot action into one research system.
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1985–1990
Return to Stanford
Nilsson returned to Stanford in 1985 and chaired its computer science department until August 1990. His subsequent robot research addressed action in changing environments and learning from experience.
Sources and credits
Photo: ai.stanford.edu; Nils Nilsson profile photograph; creator not stated. License: Not stated by source. Source: ai.stanford.edu. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.