index / about
01 — Profile
About me
Engineer, researcher, and cat parent — with a habit of making machines move deliberately through messy, real environments.
I'm a robotics and industrial-automation engineer with expertise in AI-driven path planning, computer vision, machine learning, and real-time control systems. With a background spanning ROS1/ROS2, deep learning frameworks, and embedded development, I design and implement autonomous robotic systems that solve real-world challenges.
I'm a Robotics Software Engineer at Salin247, building the navigation and control stack for a production autonomous agricultural robot — path-tracking controllers (MPC, PID, Stanley), graph-based mission planning with Dijkstra and Reeds-Shepp curves, and the integration layer that ties an industrial PLC to the ROS navigation stack over Modbus TCP. My MPC controller replaced legacy PID for a 35% reduction in cross-track and heading error and now runs in production.
Before robotics software I spent nearly four years in industrial automation at Quest Industrial (ProMach), delivering automation systems across food processing and packaging — including leading the company's first AGV project, which boosted production-line efficiency by up to 170%, and earning the Superior Performance Award two years running.
What I focus on
I hold an M.S. in Robotic Systems Development from Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science and am completing an M.S. in Engineering Management at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, on top of a mechanical-engineering degree (magna cum laude) from Rose-Hulman. Recent work includes Mono3DBox, a monocular 3D object-detection algorithm, a first-place finish in Amazon Robotics' League of Robot Runners, and an autonomous decluttering robot with a >85% grasp-success rate. My aim is to keep advancing autonomous mobile robots for manufacturing, agriculture, and beyond.
Beyond engineering
When I'm not designing robots or tuning algorithms, I'm usually deep in a game — Monster Hunter, Identity V, and a rotating cast of indie titles. I'm a proud cat parent to Stitch and Lilo, and I have a genuine soft spot for driving a manual transmission.
📷 Placeholder — add photos of Stitch & Lilo here.
Elsewhere
Find me on GitHub and LinkedIn, or reach out at zwan2@alumni.cmu.edu.