Gokul Puthumanaillam
PhD Student, Roboticist and C++ enthusiast

About Projects Publications Random

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TLDR + Links (Click to expand)

Education

Links

Hi, I'm Gokul

I am a PhD student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where I work with Prof. Melkior Ornik in the Learning, Autonomy, Decision, and Control (LEADCAT) Lab. I finished my bachelors in Electronics and Communications Engineering with a minors in Computational Mathematics. My current research emphasizes decision making and planning for long-term autonomous tasks in probabilistic and algorithmic robotics. I am particularly interested in algorithmic approaches to reasoning that enhance autonomous decision-making and high-level planning across a variety of contexts and challenges. I am passionate about developing software for hardware, open-source contributions and translating complex theories into practical applications.

I enjoy reading books1, playing competitive chess2 and also (sometimes) video games3. I just started learning to play Go and I'm absolutely hooked!

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)

Hopefully, there will be time for everything.

Fig. 1: After winning the LESCOE Cup at IGVC, Michigan. At UIUC on Diwali

Recent Updates (Click [+] for details)

  • 📜 07/01/2024: ComTraQ-MPC accepted @ IROS 2024 [+]
  • 🏅 03/26/2024: Received Department Fellowship [+]
  • ✈️ 03/22/2024: Received travel grant for ICRA 2024 [+]
  • 📚 01/30/2024: Cleared PhD Qualifying Exam [+]
  • 📜 01/28/2024: Planning in TV-POMDPs accepted @ ICRA 2024 [+]
  • 📜 04/05/2024: Paper accepted at ICUAS 2024 [+]
  • 📜 12/22/2023: NNCS Verification accepted @ AIAA SciTech 2024 [+]
  • 📜 12/01/2023: Application of TV-POMDP to GUAM accepted @ AIAA-SIAM 2024 also presented at ULI 2024 [+]
  • 🏆 06/10/2023: Best Paper Award @ IEEE GRSS 2023 [+]
  • 📜 06/10/2023: Texture guided PANet accepted @ Neurocomputing [+]
  • 📜 05/10/2023: Paper accepted @ IGARSS 2023 [+]

Open-source Contributions

I'm passionate about open-source software. Reference implementations of all algorithms I designed at LEADCAT are publicly available. I've also contributed features and bug-fixes to projects like 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, 2024)
    • Upcoming: ROS2 based exoplanet space exploration robot with time-varying environment
      (Expected: Fall, 2024)

Site Notes

  • This site is a collection of org-mode files, exported via org-publish in Emacs and hosted on Github Pages.
  • Apologies for any word crimes - I'm trying my best!
  • I have a collection of mismatched socks that I refuse to throw away because I'm convinced the other sock will turn up eventually.
  • Last updated: 08/19/2024; 20:01:34

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.

Footnotes:

1

Currently reading: A Fine Balance by Rohiton Mistry

2

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! I’ve recently started learning Go with the awesome WonkyVamp, and I’m absolutely hooked!

3

Currently playing: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom