Vincent M. Howard

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Summary

Professional experience in the analysis, design, modeling and simulation of flight control systems Background in Robotic Systems and Control, Mechatronics, Modern and Digital Controls, Dynamic modeling Technical Skills

Programming Languages

C++, Matlab/Simulink, Basic.net, LabVIEW, Full Software Development Cycle, SQL and Python. Robotic Systems

State Estimation, Extended Kalman Filter, ADCS, IMU, INS, GPS, senor fusion, PID control, dynamic simulations, field robotics, OpenCV, pytorch, CUDA, embedded microcontrollers, Raspberry Pi, ROS, biomechanics, biomimicry Computer Software

Linux, Mac OSX, Windows, networking, GIS Tools

Professional Experience

Mitre 2020-present

Autonomous Systems Engineer

• Fly fish- Current developing testbed

• Develop MASE Lab - Autonomous Develop and Test robotic platform for High resolution mapping.

• Off-road UGV – Develop route planning software for unman ground vehicle, using Rapidly-exploring random trees star.

• NAVY PMS 420 – Research about Data Distribution Service (DDS) for use in unman navy water vehicles. Performed network stress test for DDS. Wrote autonomy guidelines for NAVY PMS 420.

• Caas – code review and hardening for caas router software.

• TS Cloud AoA project- in-depth market research of cloud environments and document the modern large scale Enterprise end-to-end data layer

• Harbinger – Research and work on VIT (VisionTransformer) for acoustic detections

• Ground Combat Vehicle- Develop simulator for the mase lab’s Pumba autonomous ground vehicle. Integrating army lidar hardware/software to Pumba. Ushr Automotive 2017-2020

Senior Software Perception Engineer -Research and Develop Algorithms for autonomous driving and high resolution maps

• Stereo Vision to automate the 2D and 3D object detection and data fusion to provide fast, accurate and reliable maps for on-vehicle route and positioning intelligence.

• Sensor fusion using navigation sensor aided with visual odometry techniques

• Object detection and vehicle localization

General Electric 2017

Senior Robotics Software Engineer –Developed autonomous aerial robotic inspection systems for industrial assets.

• Lead team of robotic software engineers

• Develop motion planning software for optimizing the inspection desired path using ROS

• Develop computer vision based site localization using OpenCV Vienna, VA

DOD-Top Secret

NATO Secret

Cell: 925-***-****

adzxb6@r.postjobfree.com

Vincent M. Howard

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General Dynamics Land System- 2016-2017

Senior Perception Software Engineer- Develop and research computer vision algorithms for robotic navigation. Wrote C++ robotic control software in a real-time multi-threaded environment.

• Develop SLAM and visual odometry navigation for GPS denied environments on mobile robotic systems in ROS

• Develop Point cloud (Lidar) based obstacle detection and path planning algorithms for use on autonomous robot car platform.

• Develop Point cloud and visual image sensor fusion techniques to robotic navigation.

• Collaborate with Robotic Collaborative Technology Alliance (RCTA) on navigation.

• Design and code vision control algorithms using CUDA and OpenCV NASA / TASC (Engility) - 2014-2016

Software Engineer – NASA research projects for safety assurance of robotic and computer vision systems and visual trajectory tracking (OSIRIS-REx Asteroid)

• Researched on advance image processing techniques for robotic control.

• Develop simulations for vision systems.

• Created computer vision algorithms for guidance and navigation.

• Analyzed customers’ requirements by performing system analysis and interface definition studies for evaluation of the reliability and compliance of the software.

• Designed IV&V techniques for dynamic computer vision guidance systems from the concept phase to deployment.

• IV&V of computer vision systems and software architecture; system and software requirements; software design; source code; verification and qualification; and certification of test products.

• Assessed mission risks and software malfunctions.

• Developed recommendations to optimize the efficiency/effectiveness of NASA program procedures and processes.

University of Hawaii at Manoa- 2010-2013

Graduate Research Assistant - Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory Mission HawaiiSat-1 Satellite:

• Engaged in the analysis, design, modeling, simulation, and validation of flight control system

• Developed flight software for attitude determination and control system (ADCS) with 6DoF

• Conducted simulated tradeoff studies to determine stability of the satellite in various orbital conditions COSMOS project (Comprehensive Open-architecture Space Mission Operations System):

• Lead developer of mission planning/scheduling and GUI software using C++

• Mechanical Engineering Laboratory

• Implemented hardware and software for a bathymetric system NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) – 2011 (June-August) & 2010 (July-August) ROV Engineer (Expeditions: Galapagos Rift - 2011, Mid-Cayman Rise - 2011, Indonesian Deep Sea - 2010) Okeanos Explorer

• Developed and streamlined ship-shore communication protocol

• Developed procedures for processing multi-beam data using open source MB systems

• Utilized geospatial software to process multi-beam data

• Coordinated dive plans and implemented precise dive targeting

• Responsible for ROV navigation and piloting

• Resolved technical problems involving motor systems and electronic bottle

• Operated deep-sea multi-beam echo-sounder for mapping

• Created high-resolution maps by administering post-processing navigation from GPS and IMU data Santa Clara University – 2009-2010

Graduate Research Assistant - Robotics Systems Laboratory Multi-robotic systems:

Vincent M. Howard

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• Designed multi-robotic system for positive gradient control in diverse marine environments

• Performed simulations on the effect of sensor noise and environmental disturbances on robot cluster Autonomous underwater mapping:

• Designed architecture and developed control system for an autonomous twin hull robot

• Created bathymetric maps using post processing analysis and performed sensor data fusion Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory – 2004 (June-August) & 2003 (June-August) Student Scholar Internship - Physics and Advanced Technologies Directorate

• Developed programs for real-time fitting of black body spectrums for temperature determination

• Interfaced digital spectrometer to collect black body spectrums using APIs

• Developed interface program for time resolved pressure experiment using LabVIEW Student Scholar Internship - Energy & Environment Directorate

• Participated in designing a diamond polisher that withstand intense pressure Patents

US10969232B1- Alignment of standard-definition and High-Definition maps Aspects of the disclosed invention relate to alignment of standard definition (SD) maps and high definition (HD maps) which may come from different sources. Responsive to input of a destination, a route to that destination may be defined, and SD map waypoints generated from that defined route. A graph may be generated from the HD map. The waypoints may be matched with nodes and edges in the graph. One or more edges may constitute a segment in the HD map. A plurality of segments are identified to match the route. Education

2008-2010 Mechanical Engineering - M.S.

Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA

2003-2008 Integrative Biology - B.A.

UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

Conferences/Publications/Presentations

Vincent Howard, Charley Price, “The Challenges of Assuring Vision Systems for Space Missions.” NASA’s 2014 International IV&V Workshop Fairmont, WV, September 11, 2014 Vincent Howard, “A Study of Gradient Climbing Technique Using Cluster Space Control of Multi-Robot Systems,” M.S. Thesis, Advisor C. Kitts, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA, January 2011. Vincent Howard, Christopher Kitts, Paul Mahacek, Thomas Adamek, Ketan Rasal, Steve Li, Alexi Badaoui, William Kirkwood, Geoffrey Wheat, and Sam Hulme, "Field operation of a robotic small waterplane area twin hull boat for shallow-water bathymetric characterization," Journal of Field Robotics 29, no. 6 (2012): 924-938. Professional Affiliations and Awards

• Excellence in Values – NASA 2015

• Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

• Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) Grand Award Judge for Robotics and Intelligent Machines Pittsburgh PA, 2015

• Santa Clara University Mechanical Engineering Department Fellowship (March 2009-2010)

• Project Chair of CalRobotics, UC Berkeley, 2004-2006

• Member, CalRobotics, UC Berkeley, 2003

• Vice President, San Francisco Robotics Society 1998-2003 Activities

• Experimentation on aerial drones for aerial mapping

• Developing autonomous fix wing UAV platform for 3D aerial mapping

• Constructing motor controller for Hacker Dojo Robotics

• Designed leg prototype of a hexapod robot using autonomous robotics technology

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