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，同步定位与建图（SLAM）领域的研究经历了显著演进，凸显了其在实现未知环境自主探索中的关键作用。这一演进历程从手工设计方法，到深度学习时代，直至近期聚焦于神经辐射场（NeRFs）与三维高斯泼溅（3DGS）表征的新进展。鉴于该领域研究日益增多且缺乏系统性综述，本文旨在通过辐射场最新进展的视角，首次全面概述SLAM技术的发展脉络。研究阐明了相关技术背景、演进路径、内在优势与局限，为揭示该领域的动态进展与具体挑战提供了基础性参考。