EDUCATION
- Ph.D. in computer science and applications at the L3i Laboratory of University of La Rochelle, France (Oct. 2012 - Jan. 2017)
- Research Master in Electronic, Electrotechnic and Automatics (EEA), specialization in Robotics and Automatics at University of Montpellier, France (Sept. 2011 - Sept. 2012)
- Engineering Master (merit-based selection) in Micro-Electronics and Automatics at Ecole Polytechnique Universitaire of Montpellier, France (Sept.2006 - Aug. 2011)
- French language proficiency (accelerated) at University of Paul Valéry, France (Sep.2005 - May 2006)
- Cambridge Advanced diploma in English, intensive course of Business & Marketing at Bournemouth Academy, Bournemouth, England (July 2003 - Aug. 2005)
- First-year of Electronics Engineering at the Unversity of Cauca, Colombia ( 2002-2003)
- High-school degree at Nuestra Señora del Carmen, Colombia (2001)
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Postodoctoral researcher at L3i Laboratory, University of La Rochelle ( May 2017- present)
Project: Towards social robots at the service of the elderly
Collaboration: Center of Social Action (CCAS) of the municipality of La Rochelle in charge of 5 establishments of elderly and dependant people, and the Start-up Ullo, which develops technological supports and evaluation and stimulation devices for aging-related disorders. France
Main Tasks:
- Proposition of a Cognitive Control Architecture allowing interaction of both humanoids robots (Pepper and Nao) with elderly people;
- Organization and participation of a robot-elderly interaction-day at the elderly house (EHPAD Les Minimes of La Rochelle);
- Organization of different events aiming at bringing closer elderly people, social assistants and professionals living and working at elderly homes with social robots;
- Management of the project proposal;
- Redaction of the project proposal, humain resources needs, budget estimation and its breakdown over the duration of a two-year project.
- Presentation of the project at the "smart living day" where companies and social institutions offer solutions and present their needs, respectively, around the silver economy problem
Project: Dynamic Management of major crisis (GeDyCrisM)
Collaboration: Systel SA. French company who plays an major role in systems and telecomunications with civil security, firefighters and UA, particularly in terms of alert processing, decision support, mapping and regulation of emergency calls.
Main Tasks:
- Study and implementation of algorithms related to Internet of Things (IoT)
- Conception and development of a pipeline allowing data fusion and acquisition, data processing and analysis allowing triggering alerts related to unforseen data values of sensors;
- Proposition of an ontology allowing to structure data into a unique format;
- Implenetation of stream reasoning methods allowing analysis of stream data in real time.
Doctoral Researcher at L3i Laboratory, University of La Rochelle, France (Oct. 2012 - Jan.2017)
Project : The RHIZOME Architecture: A hybrid Neurobehavioral Control Architecture for Autonomous Vision-based Indoor Robot Navigation.
Main Tasks:
- Contribution to the state of the art of visual robot navigation;
- State of the art of robot control architectures;
- Study and Implementation of learning algorithms;
- Conception of a neural-based control architecture for mobile robot allowing indoor robot navigation;
- Real time implementation of the control architecture on the NAO robot;
- Document analysis and image processing;
- Publications in national/international conferences.
Master Researcher work placement at L3i Laboratory, La Rochelle, France (March - August 2012)
Project : A perception-Action approach for robot navigation
Main Tasks:
- Design and development of embedded exploration tools (software) capable of :
- Processing images received by NAO’s camera to extract notable structures in a building;
- Building different algorithms to post-process outlines of structures to identify a path trajectory;
- Consolidating all data to map a trajectory through the building.
- Implementation of autonomous execution of the software in the NAO robot to give it permanent control of its trajectory through the checkpoints detected and recognized through its camera;
- Testing probable scenarios, optimize algorithms, and identify degree of accuracy and limits.
Research Engineer work placement at the Robotics Research Centre (RRC), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (May - Sept. 2011)
Project : Doppler Techniques implementation for Detection and Characterization of Negative Obstacles by high speed mobile platforms (HSMP)
Main Tasks:
- Investigation and Implementation of Doppler Techniques for detection and characterization of negative obstacles;
- Design, creation, modification and optimization of the mechanics and electronics (both hardware & software) prototype of a robot containing ultrasound and radio-frequency sensors;
- Design of experiment methodology to conduct indoor and outdoor tests;
- Recommendations for design improvements after analysis of the collected data
Research Engineer final year project at LIRMM Laboratory, University of Montpellier (Sept.2010 - Jan. 2011)
Project: Human-Robot Interaction with NAO humanoid robot
Main Tasks:
- Development of control strategies for Human-robot interaction:
- Study on Humanoid Motion Control and execution of movements;
- Voice control programming (Python) to allow triggering desired behaviors;
- Application of visual (including facial) recognition software.
Visiting Engineer work placement at Pôle AIP/PRIMECA, Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France (One week) September 2010
Project: Autonomous motion of wheeled mobile robot - Pekee2
Main Tasks:
- Knowledge acquisition and literature review of robot architecture and simulation Software;
- Code development in C/C++ for motion control in free environment, simultaneous localization and unexpected obstacles avoidance;
- Experimental validation of techniques implemented in the robot.
Engineer work placement at LIRMM Lab. , University of Montpellier, France (Sept. 2009- Jan. 2010)
Project: Motion control of a humanoid robot with HRP3 software
Main Tasks:
- Research in the use of Kinematics, and the Jacobian & Dynamic models for motion control;
- Study of a feedback controller(PID) suitable to provide controlled action;
- Motion control simulation using OpenHRP3 software, and C/C++ programming;
- Writing of the manual for installation of the software in English and French.