Robots I've Worked With

UR3e Arm

6 DOF robotic arm produced by Universal Robots

Fanuc m710ic Arm

8 DOF system including a 6 DOF Fanuc robotic arm, a 1 DOF positioner, and a 1 DOF sensor mount

Toyota HSR

Human Service Robot (HSR) developed by Toyota with a holonomic mobile base and a 5 DOF robotic arm

Vecna AMR Fleet

Fleet of AMRs ranging from tuggers to pallet trucks and medium-lift fork trucks

Skills

ROS

Extensive experience working with ROS in research and course projects with commercially available robots.

Robotic Simulation

Validated robotic motion algorithms with ROS using simulation tools such as Gazebo and RVIZ before running them on real hardware.

Robotic Hardware Integration

Tested and demoed robotics algorithms on real hardware. Configured ROS on a commercially available robot. Integrated and installed multiple grippers and LiDARs on robotic platforms.

Leadership

Gordon Institute of Engineering Leadership fellow. Acted as interim team lead at Vecna and steadied the Robot Software team during a time of high-turnover.

Programming Languages

Professional experience developing C++ Python and Matlab in robotics applications, C in embedded systems applications, and Java in software development applications.

Solidworks

Modeling experience using Solidworks for 3D printing. Parts created include a case for a PCB as well as ears and eys for a robotic panther.

Projects

All Work/Research Courses Senior Design

Vecna Robotics

Wrote software for autonomous vehicles that move pallet-sized loads around warehouses

Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing

Developed a Fanuc industrial arm to use the cold spray additive manufacturing process to turn CAD models into 3D printed parts

Fostering Innovation in Seafood Handling (FISH)

Introducing robotic arms into seafood processing plants to aid human workers in sorting and processing seafood.

Human Support Robot (HSR)

Used Toyota's HSR to pickup and sort objects as part of the 2019 Toyota Robotics Institute Tidy-up Challenge.

CES 2020 Demo

Partnered with Analog Devices to showcase their time of flight technology by integrating new sensors into Northeastern's robotics research as part of a demo presented at CES 2020.

Reinforcement Learning for Robotics

Reinforcement Learning course project to apply reinforcement learning to a real-life robotic problem to teach a robotic arm how to slide objects across a table.

Autonomous Vehicle Kalman Filter

Collected and worked with data from Northeastern's autonomous car to integrate the Ackermann Steering Model into an extended kalman filter.

Swarm Robotics

Simulated disaster response by leveraging robotic swarming algorithms on mobile robots.

Physical Activity Monitoring System for Wheelchair Users

Developed an embedded system to monitor the daily activity of wheelchair users.

Education

Northeastern University - 2018-2020

College of Engineering, MS in Robotics
  Cumulative GPA: 3.833
  Honors: Gordon Institute of Engineering Leadership Fellow
  Relevant Courses: Robotics Sensing & Navigation, Mobile Robotics, Assistive Robotics, Reinforcement Learning, Engineering Leadership

University of Pittsburgh - 2013-2018

Swanson School of Engineering, BS in Computer Engineering, Minor in Mechanical Engineering
  Cumulative GPA: 3.871
  Relevant Courses: Embedded System Design, Programming System Design on a Mobile Robot Platform, Image Processing

Experience

  • Vecna Robotics Aug 2020 - Present
    Have grown from a Robotics SW Engineer role to Senior Robotics SW Engineer and Tech Lead of the Robot Software team. Wrote software for all aspects of robotic motion/behavior and worked cross-functionally with the hardware, deployment and manufacturing teams.
  • Gordon Institute of Engineering Leadership Aug 2019 - Aug 2020
    Intensive year long engineering leadership program at Northeastern University where I developed leadership skills and put those skills into practice by leading an industry sponsored challenge project.
  • Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing Lab May 2019 - Aug 2020
    Northeastern's Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing Lab where my research focused on creating and controlling a robotic system to deposit material using cold spray technology.
  • Robotics and Intelligent Vehicles Research Lab Sep 2018 - Aug 2020
    Northeastern's RIVeR Lab where my research focused on using state-of-the-art trajectory motion planning algorithms to control robotic systems to acieve better human-robot collaboration.
  • SHREC Lab Nov 2017 - Apr 2018
    Center for Space, High-performance, and Resilient Computing (SHREC) where I worked on applications dealing with images collected from space.
  • Human Engineering Research Lab Jan 2016 - Jun 2018
    Developed software and hardware for a physical activity monitoring system for people who use wheelchairs.
  • Hydroid Inc. May 2016 - Aug 2016
    Autonomous underwater vehicle company where I worked on the Vehicle Interface Program as well as simple PID controls using C++ software.
  • Follett Software Corp. May 2015 - Dec 2015
    Learned typical software engineering practices including agile software development, version control, and unit tests while working on a software student information system.

Conferences

CES 2020

Jan 2020 - Las Vegas, Nevada
  Partnered with Analog Devices and Ascend Robotics to integrate new sensors into human-robot interaction research being carried out at Northeastern's RIVeR Lab. Presented this demo as part of the Analog Devices booth in the CES exhibit hall.

Future of Innovation in Aeronautics and Aerospace

Nov 2019 - Paris, France
  Presented a poster about my research on using robotics for cold spray additive manufacturing and its applications to the aeronautics industry.

Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute Conference

Nov 2019 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  Delivered a talk and presented a poster on our completed project to introduce robotic automation to seafood processing plants.

Amazon re:MARS

Jun 2019 - Las Vegas, Nevada
  Exhibited a demo of Northeastern's current robotics research over three days of the conference as part of the tech showcase.

Contact Me

Address

Phone #

Email

Boston, MA

781 812 8630

joelynch523@gmail.com