Mechatronics Engineer · Direct PhD Student in Engineering Sciences
Robotics & Autonomous Systems · Embedded Control · Full-Stack Product Development · Software Quality
I design, integrate, and validate systems that connect robotics, embedded hardware, control, perception, and production software. My work ranges from low-level motor and sensor interfaces to ROS 2 autonomy, operator applications, distributed web systems, automated validation, and reproducible research workflows.
My current academic work focuses on capability-aware control and skill transfer for mobile robotic manipulators operating under uncertainty. In parallel, I develop practical software and embedded products intended for real users and client environments—not only laboratory demonstrations.
Build · Integrate · Validate · Deploy
| Domain | Capabilities |
|---|---|
| Robotics and autonomy | Mobile robots, tracked platforms, manipulators, SLAM, localization, navigation, motion planning, sensor fusion, digital twins, simulation-to-real integration |
| Control and embedded systems | Motor control, nonlinear and robust control, real-time firmware, actuator bring-up, encoders, distributed microcontroller architectures, field buses and serial protocols |
| Commercial application development | Full-stack web applications, REST APIs, WebSockets, authentication, databases, desktop/operator interfaces, embedded clients, multi-device synchronization and deployment |
| Software quality and validation | Automated testing, CI/CD, regression analysis, test infrastructure, failure triage, reproducibility, technical documentation and release-oriented verification |
ROS 2 Humble · ROS Noetic · Nav2 · MoveIt 2 · SLAM Toolbox · robot_localization · TF/TF2 · URDF/Xacro · RViz · Gazebo · MuJoCo · Isaac Sim · Isaac Lab · MATLAB
Python · FastAPI · React · TypeScript · JavaScript · Vite · REST APIs · WebSockets · SQLAlchemy · SQLite · PostgreSQL-ready architectures · PySide6/Qt · Jinja2 · HTML/CSS
C/C++ · ESP32 · ESP-IDF · Arduino · PlatformIO · STM32 · NXP S32K · Raspberry Pi · Jetson Orin Nano · Intel NUC · micro-ROS · CAN/CANopen · UART · I²C · SPI · PWM · VESC · ODrive
OpenCV · TensorFlow · PyTorch · NumPy · SciPy · Pandas · Matplotlib · SymPy · LiDAR · depth cameras · thermal sensing · visual odometry
Linux · Git · GitHub · Docker · pytest · CI/CD · Jenkins · Jira · TestRail · Confluence · LaTeX · technical documentation
PadelSystem — commercial client platform
A distributed multi-court scoring and display-management product developed for a client environment. It connects ESP32 smartwatches, a central FastAPI server, a React web portal, and Raspberry Pi court displays through a shared real-time protocol.
Technical scope: FastAPI, React, TypeScript, WebSockets, SQLAlchemy, authentication and roles, PySide6, ESP-IDF, LVGL, event deduplication, offline-tolerant displays, media synchronization and multi-court state management.
Client identity, production credentials and operational deployment data are intentionally excluded from the public repository.
RoboCorea — collaborative RoboCup Rescue system
Contributor to the original team repository—not merely the personal fork—with 14 merged pull requests covering robot autonomy, perception, operator tooling and hardware integration.
Representative contributions include:
- Jetson-side OctoMap generation and 3D voxel visualization;
- GUI-controlled sensor, I²C and mapping services with clean systemd process ownership;
- real-robot SLAM, localization and Nav2 workflows on fused odometry;
- ZED, LiDAR, MLX90640 and magnetometer integration;
- arm/gripper control, operator GUI improvements and camera bandwidth fixes.
My active PhD repository remains private while the methodology, experimental protocol and publication strategy are under development. The research focuses on capability-conditioned control and task-space skill transfer across robotic embodiments, with reproducible simulation and hardware-validation pipelines.
| Project | Focus |
|---|---|
| Arm-TMR-2026 | ROS 2 and MoveIt stack for Jaguar and Dicerox rescue manipulators |
| TMR2026_Rescue | Multi-robot software and firmware integration for RoboCup Rescue 2026 |
| CAN-Control-Odrive | Python and ROS 2 tooling for ODrive control through Ginkgo USB-CAN |
| TurtleBot3-Autonomy-Stack | ROS 2 autonomy stack with frontier exploration, SLAM/Nav2 navigation, HAZMAT map annotation and mechanism control |
| Wheelchair-Assist-Drive-Module | STM32-based powered wheelchair assist module with BLDC actuation, encoder feedback, sensing and onboard diagnostics |
| RapidlyInterface_Robostem2025 | PyQt6 operator interface integrating video, YOLO, QR and sensor telemetry |
| RapidlyMovement_Robostem2025 | ESP32 differential-drive firmware and real-time telemetry GUI |
Qualified for the RoboCup Rescue Robot League in three consecutive editions:
- 2024 — Eindhoven, Netherlands
- 2025 — Salvador, Brazil
- 2026 — Incheon, South Korea
- capability-aware and robust control for mobile manipulation;
- autonomous navigation and mapping for tracked rescue robots;
- embedded communication and actuator-control architectures;
- client-facing connected products spanning web, desktop and firmware;
- validation workflows that connect research rigor with deployment constraints.
- LinkedIn: gerardo-escobar-dc