Robotics PhD researcher building distributed sensor fusion and state estimation for robotic systems. Bayesian inference in factor graphs applied to real robots. I also work on embedded software, open-source hardware projects and science communication in my spare time.
Open to opportunities in robotics, software, & autonomy.
Robotics and mechatronics engineer spanning the full stack: from electronics and mechanical design, low-level embedded firmware, up to high-level ROS with vision processing pipelines. Currently completing a PhD in Engineering Mathematics at the University of Bristol, focused on distributed multi-robot decision-making and inference. Backed by 8 years leading hardware and software development for commercial and research robotics products, from PCB spin-up and firmware through to production, design-review leadership, and mentoring junior engineers. Proven track record taking systems from concept to simulation, build, and field deployment both independently and within inter-disciplinary teams.
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Education
Engineering Mathematics PhD — University of Bristol, 2023–present (Submitting August 2026) Distributed Decision-Making and Information Fusion in Sparse Robot Swarms
Designed and deployed real-world online Bayesian factor graph inference for environmental electromagnetic surveillance aboard a multi-robot platform of six autonomous robots within a ROS framework
Formulated per-robot EM field inference as a GBP factor graph problem, designing custom measurement factors with Gaussian noise models and Huber robust loss functions to down-weight outlier observations. Bounded incremental pose uncertainty via landmark anchor factors, preventing bias in predicted signal values at estimated sampling locations
Built a high-fidelity 2D Python simulator integrating PyTorch modules to implement a local Gaussian Belief Propagation method and compared against global information approach of GTSAM
Examined how collective fusion estimators across multi-robot teams perform at estimating environmental properties, analysing how the topology of the resultant inter-robot communication network governs consensus accuracy and outlier rejection under real-world noisy sensing conditions
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Established Git-based collaborative workflows within the research group, enabling reproducible research and adoption of the simulator across multiple student's projects
Wrote technical documentation for the simulator API, improving accessibility and onboarding speed for collaborators
Diagnosed and resolved hardware faults on physical robot platforms, and integrated new IMU and LiDAR sensors to existing ROS stack
Designed ROS-based data collection and telemetry pipelines to support post-hoc analysis and real-time system health monitoring. Automated simulation workloads using scheduled, containerised Docker jobs on self-managed Linux HPC clusters, including automated results figures generation pipeline and management of machine resources
Collaborated with a cross-disciplinary robotics team to extend existing platforms and integrate 3D point cloud sensing capabilities, delivered as part of an IAA-funded grant project
Presented research at international academic conferences, communicating complex technical results to both specialist and non-specialist audiences
Set up and georeferenced a fixed RTK-GNSS base station for repeated outdoor field trials, anchoring it to an Ordnance Survey reference coordinate to improve GNSS localisation and correct IMU drift, handling the radio correction link, reference-coordinate registration, and GNSS/IMU integration in support of the lab's projects.
Independently scoped and executed a multi-year research programme, managing competing priorities across hardware, software, and experimental deliverables under academic supervision
Electrical & Electronic Engineering PhD — University of Manchester, 2018–2020 (Withdrew) Distributed Containment of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs)
Applied set theoretical methods (SIVIA) and numerical contractor approaches to perform a guaranteed-localisation approach on autonomous underwater vehicles with multiple inertial sensors and a camera.
Characterised noise models of sensors to feed into kinematic model of AUV to determine constrained state positions and implemented a real-time algorithm in C++ with hardware acceleration onto NVIDIA Xavier inside a BlueROV2 robotic platform.
Final submission was prevented by COVID-related cancellation of laboratory work and industrial secondments, compounded by the departure of key academic and industrial collaborators.
Electrical & Electronic Engineering, MEng — University of Manchester, 2014–2018
1st Class Honours
Specialised in electronics and control engineering, alongside modules on mathematical methods, software and signal processing.
Final Project: Fault localisation in the Digital Human Phantom — used an HPC cluster to run programs written in C++ that analysed large MRI tomography datasets for anomalous tissues and shapes within a digital human model.
Bristol University Accelerator Grant — Robotics & Software Engineer, 2025 (6 months), Bristol
Funded under an IAA grant to work part-time on a research project raising the technology readiness level (TRL), selecting suitable point-cloud sensors for application, writing software architecture and understanding stakeholder requirements.
Integrated Ouster LiDAR and OAK-D cameras to Jetson Orin robotic platform, developing pipeline and architecture for sensor capture and synchronisation for post-processing.
Initial work for MVP of semantic segmentation of surfaces using LiDAR and cameras using SAM2.
Manchester Robotics — Robotics & Embedded Engineer, 2018–2022, Manchester
Designed and commissioned multi-microcontroller PCBs and sensor boards for robotics products, including liaising with manufacturers for assembly and turnkey of product
Wrote software for robot control and a wide range of sensors including cameras and IMUs, as well as integration to compute platforms such as NVIDIA Jetson and Raspberry Pi
Calibrated and verified intrinsic parameters and distortion models in OpenCV across Raspberry Pi and USB cameras, validating that hardware matched expected models to filter out non-genuine parts for robotic products.
Developed automated PCB validation rig using Python to verify manufactured boards at scale; liaised with contract manufacturers on DFM
R&D for initial products and upcoming models for AUVs, UAVs and BLDC motors
Oversaw production of 1000+ units sold to universities & academic institutions
MBDA — Electronics Test Engineer, 2017 (4 months), Stevenage
Designed test electronics for simulating physical supply
Interpreted project requirements and reviewed design choices with customers
Collaboratively developed test hardware
Developed test schema for project to match project requirements
Organisational management and volunteer work at a local repair cafe fixing consumer electronics and hardware items brought in by local community to prevent waste ending up in landfill.
Diagnose and fix a wide range of items, from consumer electronics to unusual one-offs
Reverse engineer schematics, source documentation and find replacement parts online
Teach members of the public how things work and how to repair them
Run workshops for community members to understand the repair ecosystem, managing repaired assets for resale and running the inventory tracking system
Manage finances, organisation, and compliance (PAT testing, chemical safety)
Coordinate and run repair sessions on open Sundays
Projects
UoBSAT Team — Electronics Engineer, 2023-Now
Upgraded existing design to comply with flight requirements and signal integrity requirements
Designed multiple PCB revisions to get working prototype
Suggested IC selection improvements and more suitable design choices
Designed, manufactured, populated, tested PCB for required application
Moved to SoM design away from Single board computer design
Gave design reviews for students work
Guided interdisciplinary undergraduates through design decisions and choices that were made
MANSEDS European Rover Challenge Team — Robotics Lead, 2019–2021
Developed ROS C++ motor controller firmware for high-power BLDC motors, wrote C++ CANbus management ROS nodes for controlling movement of rover
Led design reviews and mentored a team of 8 undergraduates across ROS navigation stack, sensor PCBs, and firmware tasks
Designed power & CANbus management system for high power BLDC motors
MANSEDS Balloonian Team — Lead Electronics Engineer, 2017–2019
Designed electronics for high altitude weather balloon payload
Worked with multi-disciplinary team to decide on requirements
Conducted atmospheric testing of electronics for high altitude operation
Ran workshops with undergraduates for teaching electronics
Madin, Z. R., Lawry, J., and Hunt, E. R. (2026). "Collective Ranking of Environmental Signals through Gaussian Belief Propagation in a Patrolling Robot Swarm" The 18th International Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARS '26), Tokyo, Japan. (Accepted, to appear).
C. York, Z. R. Madin, P. O’Dowd, and E. R. Hunt, ‘Heterogeneity in Multi-Robot Environmental Monitoring for Resolving Time-Conflicting Tasks’, 2025, arXiv. doi: 10.48550/ARXIV.2512.08813.
Webb, N., Milivojevic, S., Sobhani, M., Madin, Z. R., Ward, J. C., Yusuf, S., ... & Hunt, E. R. (2024, October). Co-movement and trust development in human-robot teams. In International Conference on Social Robotics (pp. 107-120). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore.
Sanja Milivojevic, Mehdi Sobhani, Nicola Webb, Zachary Madin, James Ward, Sagir Yusuf, Chris Baber, and Edmund R Hunt. 2024. Swift Trust in Mobile Ad Hoc Human-Robot Teams. In Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS '24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 16, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1145/3686038.3686057
Connor York, Zachary R. Madin, Paul O'Dowd, Edmund R. Hunt . (2024). "Shaping Multi-Robot Patrol Performance with Heterogeneity in Individual Learning Behavior." ICDL 2024. 1(1).
Conference proceedings talk at The 39th ACM/SIGAPP Symposium On Applied Computing, Avila, Spain
Teaching
Digital Circuit Fundamentals — University of Bristol (2024-2025)module detail
First-year unit progressing from Boolean algebra and Karnaugh maps through combinational/sequential logic, state machines, and CPU fundamentals. GTA role supervised practical labs and provided feedback on logic design problem sheets.
Analysis and Design of Electrical & Electronic Systems — University of Bristol (2023-2026)module detail
First-year core unit spanning thermodynamics, energy conversion, and linear/non-linear circuit analysis from physical principles through to system-level performance. GTA role covered bench top equipment training and circuit measurement fundamentals across multiple lab sessions.
Applied Control — University of Manchester (2019-2021)module detail
MSc unit establishing classical control foundations — feedback modelling, PID design in MATLAB, and industrial process structures including cascade and feedforward control, with LabVIEW practicals. GTA role supervising sessions, assisting with controller tuning, and marking coursework.
High Speed Digital & Mixed Signal Design — University of Manchester (2020-2021)module detail
Third-year elective covering signal integrity (reflections, crosstalk, transmission line effects), controlled impedance routing, and mixed-signal PCB partitioning strategies at high frequencies. Demonstrator role guiding PCB layout exercises in Altium and reviewing designs for signal integrity issues.
Digital Control — University of Manchester (2019-2021)module detail
MSc unit covering z-transform analysis, digital PID design, and Model Predictive Control, with MATLAB/Simulink lab work throughout. GTA role running lab sessions, supporting MPC coursework, and holding office hours for exam prep.
Embedded Systems Project — University of Manchester (2020-2021)module detail
Year-long team project in which students design and build an autonomous line-following buggy from scratch, covering microcontroller programming, sensor interfacing, analogue/digital circuit design, and a competitive race at year end. Demonstrator role supporting lab sessions, debugging hardware and firmware issues, and assessing progress milestones.
Control Systems I & II — University of Manchester (2019-2022)module detail
Two-unit BEng modules covering classical control (Laplace transforms, root locus, Bode plots, PID etc) in Year 2 and extending to state-space methods, observers, and discrete-time control in Year 3. Demonstrator and tutor role across lab sessions, drop-in tutorials, and coursework marking.
Nonlinear and Adaptive Control Systems — University of Manchester (2018-2021)module detail
MSc unit covering nonlinear analysis (phase-plane, Lyapunov stability, describing functions) and adaptive control (MRAC, self-tuning regulators) for systems with uncertain or time-varying parameters. GTA role running tutorial sessions on Lyapunov analysis and backstepping, and marking exercise sheets.
Extracurricular Interests
Olympic Weightlifting I’ve been doing weightlifting for a long time now and semi-regularly compete when I get the chance.
Sparks Repair Café : Regular volunteer and electronics repairer at Sparks Repair Café or our Instagram in Bristol. I diagnose and fix consumer electronics brought in by members of the public, from amplifiers and turntables to e-bikes and game consoles; keeping devices out of landfill and sharpening practical fault-finding skills in the process.
Espresso Machines: Because there’s no such thing as originality, I’m an engineer who’s into his espresso. I fix up and tinker with Gaggia machines, trying to get the best pull out of my beans.
