Lakshay Sharma
Lakshay Sharma

Lakshay Sharma

Robotics Engineer

lakshay-sharma.jpeg

I am a student at the University of Pennsylvania, and will be graduating in May 2021 with the following: BSE in Computer Engineering and Physics, MS in Physics and Astronomy and MSE in Robotics.

I look for thrill and excitement in my research: be it launching high-power rockets, designing hardware for NASA to be used by astronauts on the ISS, hunting for Planet Nine in Dark Energy Survey data or advancing the state of HMI in autonomous driving technology. Having held several leadership positions has shown me the immense value of collaboration and teamwork, and has instilled in me a fierce sense of ownership and responsibility towards my projects. My main areas of interest are autonomous robotics and space engineering.

Feel free to reach out via the link above, email or text! 

work Experience

undergraduate astrophysics researcher: Dark energy survey

May 2018 - Present

  • Explored Planet Nine’s existence and discovered new minor planets using astronomical data from the Dark Energy Survey

  • Devised a novel algorithm to link detections of transient objects accurately using trees, regression and orbit fitting methods

  • Implemented a highly efficient photometry-based Trans-Neptunian Object (TNO) linker in C, turning multiple day runtimes into sub-second executions using efficient data structures, memory allocation/reallocation and data manipulation techniques

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Undergraduate Autonomous DRIVING Researcher: USDOT Mobility21

May 2018 - Present

  • Focused on the Human-Machine Interface (HMI) aspect of autonomous driving and developed a dashboard in Python to present a behavioral controller's decision making process live to the driver. Used industry standard tools: LGSVL and Apollo.

  • Enabled the driver being informed of decisions multiple seconds in advance, enabling trust formation in the technology

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Teaching assistant: University of pennsylvania

January 2019 - Present

Took over mentoring and grading roles as a TA for the following courses:

  • ESE 150: Digital Audio Basics (January - May 2019)

  • ESE 215: Electrical Circuits and Systems (August - December 2019)

  • ESE 350: Real-Time Embedded Systems (January - May 2020)

  • ESE 519: Real-Time Embedded Systems (August - December 2020)

  • ESE 650: Learning in Robotics (January - May 2021)

 

Projects

Highly Precise Measurement System for Laptop Keypress Latency (NASA)

March 2019 - February 2020

  • Designed and implemented a bare metal, real-time embedded system running C++ on an ARM Mbed to measure keypress latency, with highly precise results: a standard deviation of 0.32 milliseconds for a 41.63 millisecond mean response

  • Designed robust, portable mechanical system using extruded aluminum with a spring-mounted linear solenoid 

  • Presented and demoed the finished device at the NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop in Jan. 2020, as the standardized calibration setup for laptops that are used by astronauts for psychomotor vigilance tests on the ISS

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Limitless – Intelligent time management app for students

May 2020 - Present

  • Built an app to solve the COVID-induced time-management problems of college students with intelligent schedule creation

  • Used Flutter and Firebase for the initial release with PDF parsing, assignment fetching and GCal and Canvas integrations 

  • Surveyed a diverse group of students to ensure effective direction for the development efforts and target user stories

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Engineering Senior Design: Delivery Drone

August 2020 - Present

Working on an autonomous delivery drone for the senior design project, currently specializing in the control and planning of the autonomous systems on the drone

 

Leadership

Penn aerospace club: Rocket team avionics lead

August 2017 - Present

  • Implemented a Kalman filter and PID control in C++ on an STM32 board for real-time apogee prediction using IMU and altimeters. Designed a radio communication system and a dual-deploy GPS recovery system for a high-power rocket.

  • Used these embedded systems in the Spaceport America Cup 2019 to achieve an apogee of 13,000 feet with the rocket

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Physics and Astronomy Club: Co-Founder and President

August 2017 - Present

  • Founded the club in freshman year to facilitate socialization among students and talks by physics professors

  • Designed and presented a lecture series to make advanced physics accessible to non-majors, led trips to stargazing spots

Skills: Programming

C/C++
Python
Java
MATLAB
Node.js
Dart
Assembly
Shell Script

 

Skills: Specialized Software

SolidWorks
Altium

 

Skills: Robotics

Sensor Fusion
State Estimation
Flight Control
SLAM
Deep Learning
Control and Optimization

 

Selected coursework

Optimal Control
Feedback Control
Machine Learning
Advanced Robotics
Real-Time Embedded Systems
Materials and Manufacturing
Product Design
Operating Systems
Algorithms
Electrical Circuits
Computer Architecture
Computer Networks
Internet and Web Systems
Software Engineering
Quantum Mechanics
General Relativity and Gravitation
Statistical Mechanics
Condensed Matter Physics
Theoretical Neuroscience

Education

University of Pennsylvania (graduating may 2021)

  • M.S.E. ROBOTICS

  • M.S. PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY

  • B.S.E. COMPUTER ENGINEERING

  • B.S.E. PHYSICS

Awards

Member and treasurer of Tau beta pi (TBP)

Member of eta kappa nu (HKN)

thomas H. Wood prize (upenn Physics and astronomy)

IIT-jee air-10

Gold and bronze medals in international math, science and astrophysics olympiads

Contact

Email: lakshays@seas.upenn.edu
Phone: (267) 593-7034
Address: Philadelphia, PA
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