PhD, Computer and Information Science (University of Pennsylvania, 2018)
MSE, Master’s In Robotics (University of Pennsylvania, 2015)
BS, Computer Engineering (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2012)
Work experience
Institute of Field Robotics (FIBO) ⋄ Lecturer July 2024 – Present
FRA 500: Introduction to Autonomous Driving System
(supporting) FRA 141: Computer Programming for Robotics and Automation
(supporting) FRA 161: Robotics Exploration ⋄ Adjunct Lecturer Nov 2023 – June 2024
FRA 142: Computer Programming for Robotics and Automation II
FRA 532: Mobile Robots (lecturing on planning algorithms only)
Nuro ⋄ Tech Lead Manager, Motion Validation Dec 2021 – June 2023
Led a small team to develop a motion validation module including design of the new architecture, implementation of additional validation types, and development of the motion validation evaluation pipeline.
Designed an algorithm to mitigate the risk of collision by using collision severity information.
Developed additional decision making algorithms to handle the challenging scenarios in unprotected intersections and other operating domains. ⋄ Tech Lead, Motion Selection and Validation Jul 2021 – Dec 2021
Led an effort to improve the robustness of behavior in unprotected intersections including development of new assessment criteria and design of a new decision making algorithm ⋄ Senior Software Engineer, Planning & Control Dec 2020 – Jul 2021
Designed and implemented the new feature enabling the autonomous vehicle to safely pull out of the road curb. ⋄ Software Engineer, Planning & Control Nov 2018 – Dec 2020
Developed tools for benchmarking and tracking the latency of planner module.
Designed and implemented behavioral planning algorithms for autonomous driving through unprotected intersections.
Developed tools to visualize the planning results and designed metrics to measure their performances.
Redesigned the adaptive cruise control system to allow smooth speed profile with guaranteed collision avoidance in urban driving scenarios.
United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) ⋄ Intern-Research Assistant May 2016 – Aug 2016
Developed a framework for solving pursuit- evasion problems where multiple pursuers with limited sensing capabilities are used to detect all possible mobile evaders in a given environment.
Developed a framework for solving pursuit- evasion problems where multiple pursuers with limited sensing capabilities are used to detect all possible mobile evaders in a given environment. ⋄ Intern-Research Assistant May 2015 – Aug 2015
Implemented a belief space planner on the ground vehicles which incorporates uncertainty in state estimations of the robots into the planning process to find the path with better motion performance.
Computational skills and software development
Programming Languages and Libraries: C, C++, MATLAB, Python, Java, Open CV, ROS (Robot Operating System), LaTeX, experienced Ubuntu Linux user.
Softwares: Photoshop, Gimp, Premiere Pro, MS Offices.
Publications
Rattanachai Ramaithitima, “Sensor-based Topological Coverage and Mapping Algorithms for Resource-constrained Robot Swarms”, University of Pennsylvania, 2019. [Thesis]
Rattanachai Ramaithitima and Subhrajit Bhattacharya, “Landmark-based Exploration with Swarm of Resource Constrained Robots”, In Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), May 2018.
Ramaithitima, Rattanachai, Siddharth Srivastava, Subhrajit Bhattacharya, Alberto Speranzon, and Vijay Kumar, “Hierarchical Strategy Synthesis for Pursuit-Evasion Problems”, In Proceedings of the 22nd European Conference on Artificial Intelligence (ECAI), September 2016.
Rattanachai Ramaithitima, Michael Whitzer, Subhrajit Bhattacharya, and Vijay Kumar, “Automated Creation of Topological Maps in Unknown Environments Using a Swarm of Resource-Constrained Robots”, In IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 1.2 (2016): 746 – 753.
Rattanachai Ramaithitima, Michael Whitzer, Subhrajit Bhattacharya, and Vijay Kumar, “Sensor Coverage of Unknown Environments by Robot Swarms Using Limited Local Sensing”, In Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), May 2015.
Indranil Saha, Rattanachai Ramaithitima, Vijay Kumar, George Pappas, Sanjit Seshia, “ Implan: A Scalable Incremental Motion Planning Framework for Multi-Robot System”, In Proceedings of ACM/IEEE 7th International Conference on Cyber-Physical Systems, April 2016.
Indranil Saha, Rattanachai Ramaithitima, Vijay Kumar, George Pappas, Sanjit Seshia, “Automated Composition of Motion Primitives for Multi-Robot Systems from Safe LTL Specifications”, In Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), September 2014.
Teaching Assistant
Robotics: Aerial Robotics; January – February 2016 Robotics specialization course on Coursera instructed by by Prof. Vijay Kumar.
MEAM 620: Advanced Robotics; Spring 2014 – 2015 Graduate level course instructed by Prof. Vijay Kumar and Prof. Kostas Daniilidis.
CIS 520: Machine Learning; Fall 2013 Graduate level course instructed by Prof. Lyle Ungar.
selected list of courses taken
Graduate Level: Applied Algebraic Topology, Nonlinear Control Theory, Advanced Geometric Methods in CS, Advanced Robotics, Machine Learning, Computer Vision, Analysis of Algorithms, Learning in Robotics.
Undergraduate Level: Introduction to Optimization, Machine Learning, Motion Planning, Mechatronics, Set Theory and Topology, Control Systems, Introduction to Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Differential Equation, Applied Linear Algebra, Data Structures.
