Arturo Saucedo
Research Robotics Engineer @ CERL
B.S. Aerospace Engineering, Minor in GGIS
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Check out our most recent work, paper coming soon! intelligent earthmoving

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I work with a small team on applied research with robotic heavy equipment.

We're currently focused on adapting and training various SOTA robotic policies to enable greater levels of autonomy on our robotic construction platforms. We've developed a data collection, conversion, and training pipeline based on in-cab operator inputs, using the same underlying ROS2 stack during data collection through to model testing. (I also help gather data, so I've gotten pretty good at driving heavy equipment!)

This research builds on previous work performing a robotic retrofit of a compact track loader using a Modular Open Systems Approach. We sought to eliminate vendor locks and define a common system architecture for general use across Army Robotics in unknown, contested environments, enabling greater standoff distances and force multiplication for engineer operations. On this compact track loader (pictured above) I focused on hardware and software development and integration (a lot of everything, all the time). This included:

• Architecting the robot's ros2 software stack.
• Writing ros2 drivers for COTS automotive & industrial grade sensors.
• Writing ros2_controls software for the robot (from the URDF to system and sensor interfaces).
• Integrating in-house autonomous blade controllers.
• Reverse engineering CAN-based vehicle communications.
• Making tons of electrical harnesses.
• Demoing capabilities on the field.
• And of course, maintaining everything.

Previously, I've worked on localization and computer vision for the same team (mostly on a different platform) including:

• Writing software to estimate bulldozer blade pose from visual data with a Zed camera.
• Improving GNSS-Denied UGV localization subsystem, fixing error estimation.
• Creating a GIS pipeline to standardize all data inputs and georeference data outputs.
• Demoing capabilities on the field.
• Supporting demos remotely and asynchronously.

Additionally, I've worked on a historical preservation project recording the architectural, historical, and political significance of cold war era launch sites in Vandenberg Space Force Base. (This included site visits!)

I have also conducted some exploratory urban geography research, looking into the interplay between urban highway bridge infrastructure and the surrounding urban population (urban morphology stuff).