Robotics: Science and Systems XXI

Boxi: Design Decisions in the Context of Algorithmic Performance for Robotics

Jonas Frey, Turcan Tuna, Lanke Frank Tarimo Fu, Cedric Weibel, Katharine Patterson, Benjamin Krummenacher, Matthias Müller, Julian Nubert, Maurice Fallon, Cesar Cadena, Marco Hutter

Abstract:

Achieving robust autonomy in mobile robots operating in complex and unstructured environments requires a multimodal sensor suite capable of capturing diverse and complementary information. However, designing such a sensor suite involves multiple critical design decisions, such as sensor selection, component placement, thermal and power limitations, compute requirements, networking, synchronization, and calibration. While the importance of these key aspects is widely recognized, they are often overlooked in academia or retained as proprietary knowledge within large corporations. To improve this situation, we present *Boxi*, a tightly integrated sensor payload that enables robust autonomy of robots in the wild. This paper discusses the impact of payload design decisions made to optimize algorithmic performance for downstream tasks, specifically focusing on state estimation and mapping. *Boxi* is equipped with a variety of sensors: two LiDARs, 10 RGB cameras, including high-dynamic range, global shutter, and rolling shutter models, an RGB-D camera, 7 inertial measurement units (IMUs) of varying precision, and a dual antenna RTK GNSS system. Our analysis shows that time synchronization, calibration, and sensor modality have a crucial impact on the state estimation performance. We frame this analysis in the context of cost considerations and environment-specific challenges. We also present a mobile sensor suite ‘cookbook‘ to serve as a comprehensive guideline, highlighting generalizable key design considerations and lessons learned during the development of *Boxi*. Finally, we demonstrate the versatility of *Boxi* being used in a variety of applications in real-world scenarios, contributing to robust autonomy. More details and code: https://github.com/leggedrobotics/grand_tour_box

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Bibtex:

  
@INPROCEEDINGS{FreyJ-RSS-25, 
    AUTHOR    = {Jonas Frey AND Turcan Tuna AND Lanke Frank Tarimo Fu AND Cedric Weibel AND Katharine Patterson AND Benjamin Krummenacher AND Matthias Müller AND Julian Nubert AND Maurice Fallon AND Cesar Cadena AND Marco Hutter}, 
    TITLE     = {{Boxi: Design Decisions in the Context of Algorithmic Performance for Robotics}}, 
    BOOKTITLE = {Proceedings of Robotics: Science and Systems}, 
    YEAR      = {2025}, 
    ADDRESS   = {LosAngeles, CA, USA}, 
    MONTH     = {June}, 
    DOI       = {10.15607/RSS.2025.XXI.134} 
}