f Saksham Madan | Senior Robotics & Flight Control Engineer
Saksham Madan Download CV

Hi, I'm Saksham Madan.

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Senior Robotics & Flight Control Engineer with 6+ years building autonomous UGV/UAV systems from simulation to real-world deployment. Expert in swarm intelligence, SLAM, Digital Twins, and DO-178C safety-critical software. Currently pursuing MS by Research at IIT Delhi.

About

I am a Senior Flight Control Engineer at Anadrones System Pvt. Ltd. and a Research Scholar (MS by Research) at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. I specialise in autonomous systems — from swarm drone control on military-grade platforms to SLAM-based UGV navigation and high-fidelity Digital Twin development using NVIDIA Isaac Sim and Omniverse With 6+ years of hands-on experience spanning IIT Delhi, People Tech Group, Veda Aeronautics, and IISER Bhopal, I have led teams of up to 8 engineers to deliver safety-critical autonomous solutions aligned with DO-178C standards. My work sits at the intersection of robotics, deep learning perception, sensor fusion, and embedded systems deployment on NVIDIA Jetson hardware.

  • Languages: C, C++ (11/14/17), Python, Embedded C, CUDA
  • Frameworks & Middleware: ROS1/ROS2, TensorFlow, Keras, PyTorch, OpenCV
  • Simulation: NVIDIA Isaac Sim, Omniverse, Gazebo, AirSim, V-REP
  • Specialisations: SLAM, Sensor Fusion (LiDAR/RGB-D/IMU), Swarm Intelligence, Motion Planning, MPC, VIO, Point Cloud Processing, DO-178C
  • DevOps: Docker, CI/CD, Git
  • Hardware: NVIDIA Jetson Series, Pixhawk, ArduPilot, STM32, Raspberry Pi, OmniBusF9

I am passionate about building robotic systems that operate safely and reliably in the real world — from tiger reserves to defence applications. Currently open to research collaborations and senior engineering roles in autonomous systems, defence robotics, and embodied AI.

Experience

Senior Flight Control Engineer
  • Designed swarm intelligence algorithms for military-grade QinetiQ Banshee target drones; coordinating 5+ agents with real-time trajectory and motion planning at speeds exceeding 200 km/h.
  • Built ROS2 control architecture with fault tolerance and dynamic reconfiguration under DO-178C safety standard; reduced critical software defect rate by 35%.
  • Developed Digital Twins of UAV platforms in NVIDIA Isaac Sim and Omniverse with high-fidelity point cloud and sensor modeling, reducing field-testing iterations by 40%.
  • Containerised simulation pipelines using Docker; integrated CI/CD workflows cutting deployment time by 50%.
  • Tools: ROS2, NVIDIA Isaac Sim, Omniverse, Docker, C++, Python, DO-178C
Feb 2025 – Present | New Delhi, India
Senior Robotics Engineer
  • Led development of control, perception, and motion planning stack for an autonomous UGV using ROS2 + SLAM; achieved sub-10 cm localisation accuracy in unstructured environments.
  • Developed real-time C++ (17) modules for UGV motion control at 100 Hz loop frequency integrated with low-level sensor drivers via ROS2 nodelets.
  • Improved UGV localisation accuracy by 30% using computer vision on Google Street View features; processed point cloud data from VLP-16 LiDAR at 10 Hz.
  • Implemented sensor fusion (LiDAR, RGB-D, IMU) with CUDA-accelerated preprocessing; reduced SLAM CPU load by 25% while maintaining real-time performance.
  • Managed a team of 8 engineers across 6 milestone deliveries; maintained 100% on-time delivery record using Agile/Scrum.
  • Tools: ROS2, C++17, Python, CUDA, Gazebo, LiDAR, IMU
Dec 2023 – Jan 2025 | New Delhi, India
Project Scientist
  • Developed and deployed distributed adaptive coverage control algorithms on a 6-UAV testbed using ROS + OptiTrack Motion Capture; achieved <5 cm positioning error indoors.
  • Led UGV mapping project integrating Extended Kalman Filter + deep learning for semantic terrain understanding; mapped 3 terrain types at >95% segmentation accuracy.
  • Scaled multi-robot simulation environments using RTOS-compatible control loops; coordinated between faculty, PhD students, and industry stakeholders.
  • Sample Videos
  • Tools: ROS1/ROS2, Python, EKF, Deep Learning, OptiTrack, RTOS
June 2022 – Dec 2023 | New Delhi, India
Control & Perception Engineer
  • Designed Visual Inertial Odometry (VIO) navigation stack in C++ with tightly-coupled Kalman filters on Jetson Nano; achieved <2% drift over 100 m trajectory in GPS-denied conditions.
  • Built reference-based navigation system enabling a micro drone to track targets at up to 15 m/s in both GPS and GPS-denied environments using ArduPilot/Pixhawk flight stack.
  • Collaborated with hardware and software teams to integrate the system into a fully functional autonomous robotics solution.
  • Tools: C++, ROS, VIO, Kalman Filters, Jetson Nano, ArduPilot, Pixhawk, OpenCV
June 2021 – June 2022 | Greater Noida, India
Project Associate
  • Developed Model Predictive Control (MPC)-based cooperative path following for autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs) in a multi-agent ROS framework.
  • Built OFFSEG framework for off-road semantic segmentation on RELLIS-3D and RUGD datasets; improved scene understanding for off-road vehicle navigation and decision-making.
  • Led underwater SLAM system configuration and performance tuning on BlueROV2 under real water-testing constraints.
  • Tools: ROS, Python, CasADi, MPC, Deep Learning, BlueROV2
Dec 2020 – Apr 2021 | Bhopal, India
Robotics Researcher
  • Implemented ROS-based drone frameworks for periphery monitoring and asset tracking.
  • Built a Classification and Detection Model using TensorFlow; optimised and deployed it on Nvidia Jetson TX2.
  • Developed a Data Relaying System using drones as a communication channel over ROS.
  • Tools: ROS, Python, TensorFlow, Jetson TX2, OpenCV
May 2020 – Oct 2020 | Remote

Projects

Geofencing & Autonomous Landing Drone

UAV deployed at Nagarahole Tiger Reserve for autonomous perimeter security — alerts on unauthorized entry in real time.

ROS UAV OpenCV ArduPilot
Sep 2018 · Real-world deployment
OFFSEG — Off-Road Semantic Segmentation

Deep learning framework for off-road scene understanding on RELLIS-3D and RUGD datasets; improved segmentation accuracy for autonomous off-road vehicle navigation.

PyTorch Deep Learning Semantic Segmentation ROS
2021 · IISER Bhopal — Dr. PB Sujit
Lingua — Speech to ASL Converter

Robotic arm that converts speech input to American Sign Language in real time. Won Smart India Hackathon 2018 (IIT Kanpur) and received ₹10 lakh AICTE grant for development.

ROS Embedded Systems Robotic Arm NLP
Feb 2018 · SIH Winner · ₹10L Grant
Mobile Channel via UAV & UGV

Cooperative UAV–UGV system for data relay — drones act as a mobile communication channel between ground nodes using ROS.

ROS Multi-robot UAV UGV
Jun 2018 · Dr. PB Sujit, IIIT Delhi
Unified Perception & Navigation — UGV

Integrated ORB-SLAM and visual-inertial SLAM for UGVs; real-time sensor fusion (GPS, IMU, LiDAR) tested in low-light and high-dynamic environments.

ORB-SLAM VIO LiDAR IMU OpenCV
Jan 2020 · Dr. Narina Thakur, BVCOE
Swarm UAV Digital Twin

High-fidelity Digital Twin of QinetiQ Banshee swarm in NVIDIA Isaac Sim and Omniverse — photorealistic simulation for validating multi-agent swarm behaviors, reducing physical test iterations by 40%.

NVIDIA Isaac Sim Omniverse ROS2 Digital Twin
2025 · Anadrones · Live project

Skills

Languages and Databases

Python
C++
C
Embedded C
Java
Shell Scripting

Libraries

NumPy
Pandas
OpenCV
scikit-learn
matplotlib

Frameworks & Middleware

Keras
TensorFlow
PyTorch
ROS 1
ROS 2

DevOps & Other Tools

Git
AWS

Docker

CUDA

RTOS

DO-178C

Education

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), New Delhi

India, Delhi

Degree: Master of Science by Research (Computer Technology, Electrical Engineering)
Duration: Jan 2026 – Present (ongoing)

Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi

India, Delhi

Degree: Bachelor of Technology (Instrumentation and Control Engineering)
Duration: Aug 2016 – Nov 2020

    Relevant Courseworks:

    • Machine Learning
    • Computer Vision
    • Foundations of Algorithms
    • Modern Control Systems
    • Intelligent Systems and Control

Awards & Certifications

Honors & Awards
Winner — Smart India Hackathon 2018
Hardware Edition · IIT Kanpur · June 2018 · ₹10 lakh AICTE grant for Lingua project
Linux Travel Grant — $1,000
Embedded Linux Conference Europe · Lyon, France · October 2019
Best Final Project — B.Tech ICE Branch
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University · August 2020
Winner — Vihan 2019
1st Prize · Delhi Technical University · February 2019
Winner — UHack 2018
USICT, University of Delhi · October 2018
Certifications
AS 9100D Internal Auditor
TÜV SÜD · September 2025 · Aerospace Quality Management Systems
Lean Six Sigma AI Yellow Belt
CSSC · August 2024
Google Site Verification
Google Search Console · Indexed portfolio site

Publications & Research

GA-ANN Hybrid Approach for Load Forecasting
Conference Paper · Renewable Energy Potential for Sustainable Initiatives · March 2020
Secured IoT System Working on 5G Based on mm-Wave
Poster · Embedded Linux Conference Europe · Lyon, France · October 2019
OFFSEG: Off-Road Semantic Segmentation Framework
Research · IISER Bhopal — Dr. PB Sujit · 2020–2021 · Evaluated on RELLIS-3D and RUGD datasets
Distributed Adaptive Coverage Control for Multi-UAV Systems
Research · IIT Delhi — Dr. S. Bhasin · 2022–2023 · 6-UAV testbed, <5 cm indoor positioning accuracy

MS by Research ongoing at IIT Delhi (Jan 2026–Present). Publications in progress — check GitHub for latest work.

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