~~NOTOC~~ {{ :people:amaldo_profile.jpg?direct&200|}} ====== Alexis Maldonado's online CV ====== I am a scientific researcher and manager of the robotics laboratory at the [[https://ai.uni-bremen.de|Institute for Artificial Intelligence]] of the [[http://www.uni-bremen.de|University of Bremen]], in Germany. I work under the supervision of [[https://ai.uni-bremen.de/team/michael_beetz|Prof. Michael Beetz, PhD]]. Since moving our laboratory from TUM, I have mainly worked to set up and coordinate the new robotics lab in Bremen. This includes: * designing and building our own autonomous robots (like TUM-Rosie and Boxy) * maintaining our PR2 robot, and other robotics infrastructure * integration of new sensors and actuators Please see below for more details. And please don't miss the **videos** of my work at the bottom of the page! Tagline: I ♥ Robots ===== Contact Information ===== Address: Alexis Maldonado Universität Bremen - AGKI/TZI Am Fallturm 1 (TAB 1.55) 28359 Bremen Germany Tel: +49 421 218 64048 email: amaldo@cs.uni-bremen.de ===== Related personal websites ===== [[https://ai.uni-bremen.de/team/alexis_maldonado|Work website]] [[https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7gEMOlEAAAAJ|Google scholar profile]] [[https://www.flickr.com/photos/amaldo/|Public images @ flickr]] [[https://www.google.com/+AlexisMaldonadoH|Google+ URL]] ===== Research interests ===== * Autonomous robot design, construction, and integration * Manipulator control * Robotic grasping * Bringing together Robotics/Mechatronics and Artificial Intelligence * Efficient and safe use of robots with compliant control ===== Robotics experience ===== I've had extensive hands-on experience with the following robots: | {{:people:rosie_front_small.jpg?direct&200|TUM-Rosie}} | {{:people:vvv10_22.07.2010alexis.maldonado.jpg?direct&200|Work at VVV10 camp in Italy}} | {{:people:pr2_milk_frosties_small.jpg?direct&200|{James. Our PR2 robot @ TUM}} | {{:people:b21_glass2.jpg?direct&200|B21 robot}} | * [[http://ias.in.tum.de/robots/tum-rosie|TUM-Rosie robot]]. I was the main developer of this robot (together with Ingo Kresse and Federico Ruiz), so I was involved in a lot of tasks done, including: * Mechanical and electrical construction from industrial components * Integration of different types of actuators (Pan/Tilt unit, KUKA LWR4 arms, robot hands, tilting laser scanner) into a coherent control architecture with time synchronization * Developed the driver for the DLR/HIT robotic hands (4 fingers) * Algorithms for robotic grasping using the DLR/HIT hands, including low-level recovery mechanisms, collision detection, grasp quality evaluation based on torque and position data * Development of [[projects:fingertip|Fingertip Laser Sensors]] for improving robotic grasping * Currently building a new version of this robot in Bremen, called Boxy. It has two KUKA LWR4+ arms, two DLR/HIT II hands, a movable torso, and an omni-directional platform developed in-house * [[http://ias.in.tum.de/robots/icub|icub robot]]. * Maintened the hardware and developed software for the iCub robot we were awarded while at TUM * Co-developed the [[http://wiki.icub.org/iCub/main/dox/html/classyarp_1_1dev_1_1XSensMTx.html|driver for the Xsens IMU]] inside the icubs head for [[http://wiki.icub.org/yarp/|YARP]] * Developed [[http://wiki.icub.org/yarp/|YARP]] <-> ROS bridges * [[http://www.willowgarage.com/pages/pr2/overview|PR2 robot]] * Hardware maintenance for the PR2 in Bremen * Extended the PR2 with a backpack computer, and mechanics to add a new Kinect-2 sensor * [[http://ias.in.tum.de/robots/bender|Bender (based on a B21 robot)]] * Extended the B21 robot with industrial manipulators from Schunk * Created the Actuator-Array driver for Player/Stage for controlling the arms * Developed inverse kinematics algorithms for arm control ===== Systems engineering experience ===== * Integrating complex robotics systems, from the low-level drivers, to high-level control executives * Responsible for numerous project demonstrations, including TUM-Rosie preparing pancakes, cooking white sausages, making sandwhiches. (Please see videos below) * Development of real-time capable systems in Linux, including communication to EtherCAT, CAN, and other field busses * Integrating many types of sensors and actuators into the ROS middleware, including development of low-level drivers for various hardware and interfaces * Kinematic calibration of robots, including hand/eye calibration to improve the precision of robotic manipulation * Modelling of robots, including kinematics and mesh representations * Numerous contributions to free software projects (e.g. [[http://www.ros.org|ROS]], [[http://wiki.icub.org/yarp/|YARP]], [[http://playerstage.sourceforge.net/|Player/Stage/Gazebo]]) ===== Mechanical engineering experience ===== * Mechanical design of robot components using [[http://www.autodesk.com/products/inventor/overview|Autodesk Inventor]] and [[http://www.solidworks.com/|Solidworks]] * Can produce parts in metal (usually Aluminum-7075), with a complete workflow: CAD -> CAM -> CNC Mill/Lathe * Building parts in acrylic/wood using a CO2 laser cuttter. Workflow: CAD -> 2D slices -> Laser cutter * Can produce parts in PLA and ABS plastic using a 3D printer. Workflow: CAD -> Mesh -> 3D Printer * Can operate a CNC Mill ===== Electronics experience ===== * Design of miniature micro-controller boards (STM32), including 4-Layer PCB design using [[http://www.cadsoftusa.com/eagle-pcb-design-software/about-eagle/|CadSoft Eagle]], and assembly using SMD techniques * Data acquisition system design for industrial settings * Design and construction of the power distribution systems for TUM-Rosie and Boxy (Multiple voltage busses:48VDC, 24VDC, 12VDC, 5VDC) * Emergency stop system design for the Boxy robot, including wired and wireless emergency stop buttons ===== Project management competences ===== * Coordinator of the CogMan project, financed by the [[http://www.cotesys.org/|Cognition for Technical Systems (CoTeSys)]] german excellence cluster. 2008-2011 * Experience guiding students in bachelor and master thesis projects, as well as international internships * Coordinator of the demonstration program for the Y3 review meeting of the EU project [[http://robohow.org/|RoboHow]], where teams from 5 different european countries integrate their work together * Experience leading small teams of developers (PhD students) working together on robotics software projects * Responsible for the equipment of the new robotics laboratory at the [[https://ai.uni-bremen.de|Institute for Artificial Intelligence]] after Prof. Beetz, and his team, moved to Bremen from Munich. This included preparing the proposal to get funding for the equipment, to chosing and procuring the actual robots, sensors, components, and infrastructure. ===== General computing skills ===== * **Programming languages**: Extensive experience with C, C++, and Python. Also experience with Assembly, Lisp * **Operating Systems**: Expert knowledge of GNU/Linux systems. Preferred distribution: [[https://www.debian.org/|Debian]] * **Selected software tools**: [[http://www.ros.org/|ROS]], [[http://git-scm.com/|git]], [[http://www.cmake.org/|cmake]], [[https://www.hex-rays.com/products/ida/|ida dissasembler]], [[http://www.halcon.de/|MvTec Halcon]], [[http://moveit.ros.org/|MoveIt!]], [[http://de.mathworks.com/products/matlab/|Matlab]] ===== Education and awards ===== * PhD Student at Technische Universität München, Munich Germany. Supervised by Prof. Michael Beetz, PhD * Recipient of a full [[https://www.daad.de|DAAD]] Scholarship (German academic exchange service) for PhD studies in Munich. June 2004 * Lic. degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Costa Rica, emphasis on Digital Control. June 2004. GPA: 9.5/10. Graduation with honors * University lecturer at the Electrical Engineering department at the University of Costa Rica. March 2003-June 2004 * Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) at the University of Costa Rica. December, 2002. GPA: 9/10 * High school degree at Fridley High School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. GPA: 4.0/4.0 * International exchange student as a part of the [[http://www.afs.org/|AFS (American Field Service)]] intercultural program in Minneapolis, Minnesota. January 1995 - January 1996. Afterwards AFS volunteer (student coach) until 1998 ===== Selected publications ===== * Alexis Maldonado, Humberto Alvarez-Heredia, Michael Beetz, //"Improving robot manipulation through fingertip perception"//, In IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Vilamoura, Algarve, Portugal, 2012. [[http://ai.uni-bremen.de/_media/paper/maldonado12improving.pdf|Link to pdf]] * Alexis Maldonado, Ulrich Klank, Michael Beetz, //"Robotic grasping of unmodeled objects using time-of-flight range data and finger torque information"//, In 2010 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Taipei, Taiwan, pp. 2586-2591, 2010. [[http://ai.uni-bremen.de/_media/paper/maldonado10nomodelgrasping.pdf|Link to pdf]] [[http://ai.uni-bremen.de/team/alexis_maldonado|Complete list of publications]] ===== Language skills ===== * Spanish: Native language * English: C2 Level (Proficiency) as given by the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_European_Framework_of_Reference_for_Languages|Common European Framework of Reference for Languages]] * German: C1 Level (Effective operational proficiency) ===== Selected Videos ===== {{youtube>DTaeWITW1kI}} {{youtube>Tyr4_EHg6lo}} {{youtube>yBZQbCBi9LM}} {{youtube>fTfmRxEarRw}} {{youtube>lM_1BMIbhnA}} {{youtube>ruy-s2QTL6A}} {{youtube>M5jwRmjk4ZM}} {{youtube>WUHZ0OAp0DQ}} {{youtube>SUyitGZDquQ}}