I'm an independent robotics software engineer working under my own company, Respite Robotics. I specialize in robotic manipulation, with a focus on open-source software development, high-level planning and behavior, system architecture, and education.
Previously, I was at:
- (2024-2026) Robotics and AI (RAI) Institute, focusing on composition of learned manipulation skills for long-horizon tasks.
- (2022-2024) PickNik Robotics working on MoveIt Pro for robot behavior and planning in ROS 2.
- (2021-2022) Boston Dynamics working on behaviors for the Stretch warehouse robot.
- (2020-2021) The Robust Robotics Group at MIT CSAIL, as a research software engineer.
- (2011-2019) MathWorks, where I supported student competitions such as RoboCup and made robotics educational content with MATLAB and Simulink.
- (2006-2011) Cornell University, B.S. + M.S. Mechanical Engineering.
On my spare time, I like to teach things related to robotics, AI, and software development. Learn more at https://roboticseabass.com/.
I am passionate about open-source robotics software and am an active member of the Robot Operating System (ROS) community, with a focus on education and community building. Some highlights include:
- Creator of PyRoboSim, RoboPlan, and TurtleBot Behavior Demos.
- Currently helping maintain PyTrees, and formerly have helped with rosbridge and MoveIt 2.
- Co-moderator of the ROS Deliberation Community Group.
- Mentor for Google Summer of Code (2023-2024) and Women Coding Community (2025-2026).
- Reviewer for the Journal of Open Source Software (JOSS):
Selected talks, if you'd like to learn more about my career:
- Podcasts with Chandandeep Singh @ Learn Robotics & AI -- January 2022 and March 2025
- Behavior Trees for Home Service Robotics Tasks -- Behavior Trees in Robotics seminar hosted by Petter Ögren, October 2022
- Robot Arm Motion Planning with PyRoboPlan -- Robotics Developers Day @ The Construct, July 2024
- Podcast with Muhammad Luqman @ Robotisim -- November 2024
- Implementing Robot Task Planning with Learned Manipulation Skills -- Robotics Colloquium @ University of Washington, February 2025
- Advancing Robot Learning with ROS 2 -- Keynote talk with Tiffany Cappellari @ ROSCon 2025, October 2025
- Robots are complex, but your systems don't have to be -- Talking Robotics, December 2025