Biography
I am Mayank Sharma, a passionate roboticist with a strong background in robotics and computer vision, currently pursuing a Master of Engineering in Robotics at the University of Maryland, College Park. My expertise lies in developing autonomous systems, designing algorithms for robot navigation, and optimizing 3D reconstruction techniques. My recent experiences include working as a Computer Vision Engineer Intern at Kick Robotics, where I contributed to the development of an autonomous mobile robot for warehouse exploration and carbon monoxide level monitoring. I also gained substantial research experience at the Robotics Algorithms & Autonomous Systems Lab, focusing on Next-Best-View (NBV) planning and deep learning techniques for object mapping.
During my undergraduate studies at NMIMS University, I worked on innovative projects like designing a novel UAV docking mechanism at IIT Bombay, which significantly enhanced UAV flight time. I am proficient in Python, C++, and MATLAB, with a strong command of tools like ROS2, NAV2, OpenCV, and PyTorch. My passion for robotics drives me to continually explore new challenges in Autonomous Systems, Computer Vision, and Path Planning. I am actively seeking full-time robotics opportunities starting in September 2024.
- Autonomous Systems
- Computer Vision
- Path Planning
- Control Systems
Masters in Robotics, 2024
University of Maryland
B.Tech in Mechatronics, 2022
NMIMS University
Experience
- Working on integrating Nvidia Isaac Sim with ROS2 for performing Visual Slam (VSLAM) in a warehouse simulation environment and to create large scale datasets.
- Created a ROS2 Nav2 custom costmap plugin for warehouse navigation utilizing real-time pixel-level image classification, optimized YOLOv8n with TensorRT, injecting corrections into local cost maps, resulting in robots successfully traversing areas previously avoided and enhancing overall navigation efficiency.
- Streamlined cross-functional CI/CD workflows by containerizing ROS2 packages using Docker and enhanced deployment efficiency and reliability by implementing unit and integration tests with the ROS2 Testing Framework (rostest, pytest) and troubleshooting issues.
- Developed an autonomous mobile robot for mapping, navigation, and carbon monoxide monitoring in a warehouse using ROS2 Nav2.
- Utilized EKF to fuse wheel odometry, and IMU data streams for non-linear state estimation.
- Worked on optimizing 3D reconstruction and object mapping with Next-Best-View (NBV) planning by estimating image-based uncertainty to maximize information gain, and using deep learning with Gaussian splats to predict full models from partial views.
- Built battery swapping mechanisms and integrated them with the UAV docking mechanism resulting in 45% less time to charge than most techniques.
- Developed firmware for a robust arresting mechanism to lock the UAVs in all six degrees of freedom.
- Researched nonlinear BLDC motor speed control methods and implemented a speed control algorithm based on sliding mode reaching law (SMRL) on MATLAB Simulink.
Projects
Competitions
ABU Robocon 2021
Co-lead the team of 70 people overseeing departments such as Manufacturing, Designing, and Simulation to assemble and fabricate 2 robots from scratch to shoot arrows in a pot kept at some distance and achieved National Rank of 11 (Results).
