Over the past two decades, research in the field of Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) has undergone a significant evolution, highlighting its critical role in enabling autonomous exploration of unknown environments. This evolution ranges from hand-crafted methods, through the era of deep learning, to more recent developments focused on Neural Radiance Fields (NeRFs) and 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) representations. Recognizing the growing body of research and the absence of a comprehensive survey on the topic, this paper aims to provide the first comprehensive overview of SLAM progress through the lens of the latest advancements in radiance fields. It sheds light on the background, evolutionary path, inherent strengths and limitations, and serves as a fundamental reference to highlight the dynamic progress and specific challenges.

翻译：过去二十年间，同步定位与地图构建（SLAM）领域的研究经历了显著演变，凸显了其在支持未知环境自主探索中的关键作用。这一演变从手工设计方法起步，历经深度学习时代，直至近期聚焦于神经辐射场（NeRF）与3D高斯泼溅（3DGS）表示的前沿进展。鉴于该方向研究日益蓬勃且尚缺乏全面综述，本文旨在从辐射场最新进展视角，首次系统梳理SLAM的发展历程。文章阐释了研究背景、演进路径、固有优势与局限，并作为基础参考文献，着重揭示了该领域的动态进展与特定挑战。