Hi, I am \bld2{Gokul Puthumanaillam}\bld2{Gokul} 
TLDR + Links (Click to expand)
– PhD student, Robotics (CSL+AE) @ University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
– BTech (Hons), ECE + Mathematics @ Manipal Institute of Technology
– Google Scholar @ Gokul Puthumanaillam
– Github @ gokulp01
– Mail @ gokulp2@illinois.edu
– X (prev. Twitter) @ gokulp01
I am a PhD student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) where I am advised by Prof. Melkior Ornik (Learning, Autonomy, Decision, and Control (LEADCAT) Lab). I finished my bachelors in ECE+Math.
\rd{My current research} (the first 2 years of my PhD) sits squarely in the \bld2{learning to plan} paradigm: I develop algorithmic and probabilistic techniques that let autonomous systems plan farther and faster, learning abstractions and heuristics that accelerate long-horizon decision making. Recently though, I have started to extend my work towards \bld2{planning to learn} paradigm, enabling autonomous systems to actively choose the data and practice routines that will most improve their planners.
All of my papers include \rd{hardware implementations} evaluated in real-world, real-time, in-the-wild robotic settings, and are theoretically grounded in machine learning (Reinforcement Learning, Diffusion Models, Vision-Language Action Models, Robot Vision etc.).
At the \rd{systems level}, I focus on implementation and speedups for ML algorithms and robotic systems–building end-to-end pipelines, optimizing bottlenecks, and pushing planning and learning to real-time on hardware. (I regularly cry while implementing neural networks in C++). I am passionate about developing software for hardware, open-source contributions and translating complex theories into practical applications.
I am excited to be spending the summer of 2025 with 
Research as a research scientist intern in the multimodal group.
Hopefully, there will be time for everything.
I have a deep love for books1, competitive chess2, and an on-again-off-again fling with video games3. Lately, though, my time has been consumed by learning to play Go (thanks to the brilliant WonkyVamp), and I am utterly obsessed.
If you are wondering what to get me for my birthday, here is a tip: I am an analog watch fan. Anything that ticks without needing a battery, and I am sold :)
Oh, and I love cricket. Between overs and innings, life is never short on excitement (or waiting).
I was introduced to Linux at the age of 7 and never turned back: I love terminals! I have been using Vim/Neovim for the past 10 years now, mostly because I spent the first 2 years figuring out how to exit it (ironically this website is built using Emacs)! (View my nvim config file here)
Recent Updates \rd{(Click [+] for details)}
Open-source Contributions
I am passionate about open-source software. Reference implementations of all algorithms I designed at LEADCAT are publicly available. I have also contributed features and bug-fixes to projects like Gazebo, Webots, Ardupilot, and Arduino.
Current and Upcoming Projects:
Released: BlueROV2 Gymnasium Environment
(v1.0.0 released: 11/11/2024 - Find it here)
Released: Code for ComTraQ-MPC (IROS 2024)
(v1.0.0 released: 08/19/2024 - Find it here)
Released: ROS2 drivers for u-blox ZED F9P GPS receivers
(v1.0.0 released: 07/10/2023 - Find it here)
Upcoming: Vim plugin for ROS2 developers
(Expected: Fall, 2025)
Upcoming: ROS2 based exoplanet space exploration robot with time-varying environment
(Expected: Fall, 2025)
Academic Service
I have been a reviewer for the following conferences and journals:
\rd{Conferences:} ICRA (2025, 2024), IROS (2025, 2024), L4DC (2025), ICLR (2025), CoRL (2025), CDC (2024), ITSC (2025), AIAA SciTech (2024), AICECS(Student chair; 2022)
\rd{Journals:} RAL, Nature Communications, OJCSYS
I enjoy serving the community through careful, timely reviews–feel free to reach out.
Site Notes
- This site is a collection of org-mode files, exported via org-publish in Emacs.
- Apologies for any word crimes - I am trying my best!
- I have a collection of mismatched socks that I refuse to throw away because I am convinced the other sock will turn up eventually.
- I adhere to the philosophy of File over app.
- Last updated: 10/20/2025; 23:16:34
Acknowledgements
It takes a village to raise a child.
My parents have made many sacrifices to support me.
My sister has always inspired and encouraged me.
My advisors gave me the right environment and guidance to grow.
My friends are the ones who've believed in me at my lowest, and celebrated with me at my highest.
For who I am and what I have to offer, I owe it all to them.
If I have seen further, it is by standing on shoulders of these giants.
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Currently reading: A Fine Balance by Rohiton Mistry ↩
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A Bittersweet Farewell: As of August 2024, I've officially hung up my competitive chessboard. No dramatic reason behind it – the spark just fizzled out. I'm still playing for fun when the mood strikes! ↩
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Currently playing: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom ↩