LOG2026 → 2008 · 22 projects · 18 papers
Complete field log.
Every project from my CV, newest first, grouped by where I was working, then every paper. The main page tells the same story as a drive back through six chapters.
$ cat era/cmu-research-engineer.log # Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon
MoonRangerWhittaker & Wettergreen
Autonomy software lead. Led the design and development of the software for complete autonomous driving and verified it in field demonstrations; organized and trained the student teams working on perception, state estimation, navigation, health monitoring and logging.
Navigation for the AI Institute for Resilient AgricultureKantor
Lead the navigation team: crop-agnostic navigation, drone-based mapping for precise rover treks, and end-to-end barn-to-field-to-barn navigation in soybean and corn with RTK GPS. Vision-based obstacle avoidance in development.
Planetary Rover Exploration for Active Spectroscopic MappingWettergreen
Led the rewrite of the autonomy stack for a solar-powered planetary rover and developed a navigator for rugged terrain; field experiments at Cuprite Hills, Nevada and Yellow Cat, Utah.
Air-Ground CollaborationKantor
Set up the navigation and mapping software for an autonomous ATV and ran experiments in hard off-road settings.
Accurate Visual-Inertial-LiDAR Localization from DronesKantor
A framework for testing VIO front-ends, and microcontroller time synchronization of sensors and computer to sub-millisecond accuracy.
High Throughput Plant PhenotypingWettergreen
Architected the software to acquire, log and process data from 40 cameras, 5 computers and environmental sensors; structure-from-motion plant reconstruction from noisy field data for phenotypic measurements.
Autonomous Off-Road Driving ATVKantor
Localization from visual odometry and point-cloud scan matching; organized and led data collection, and was a go-to person for all systems issues.
Life in the AtacamaWettergreen
Long-duration autonomy for the solar-powered Zoë rover with a 1 m subsurface drill, in the Atacama Desert, Chile (NASA ASTEP). First author on the field-experiments paper, FSR 2017.
High Level Executive for Exploration RobotWettergreen
Redesigned the executive for the Zoë rover (plan execution, fault monitoring, contingencies), refactored its logging, and led student teams building an Android control tablet.
Performance Improvements for Medical Snake RobotChoset
Optimized data structures for near-real-time response in remote surgery.
Intelligent Spectrometry for Robotic ExplorersWettergreen
Registered, compared and segmented ASTER satellite spectra against rover ground spectra to generate mission plans.
Swarm Simulator for Heterogeneous Swarm ControlChoset
Collaborated on a simulator for research on visualizing and controlling heterogeneous swarms.
Odometry for Planetary RobotsWhittaker
Accurate odometry from wide-angle monocular images via structure from motion.
Autonomous Conference Hall Navigating RobotKantor
Autonomy software for wandering a conference setting without running into people, using laser scanners.
Robust Localization on Large-Scale Planetary SurfaceWettergreen
Surveyed segmentation algorithms on Atacama data for landmark registration.
High Accuracy Localization for Airplane Wing AssemblyKantor
Centimetre accuracy with minimal sensors and no global tracking system. Wrote most of the code for the initial demonstration; implemented an ICP variant from the literature and compared it with the one in PCL.
Localization Based on Fixed Fiducials in Mining EnvironmentsKantor
Multi-camera and 3D-laser fiducial localization, with data from real and mock mines.
$ cat era/visiting-scholar.log # CMU, alongside NetApp
Warping Images for Hemispherical Display SystemsWettergreen
Independent research on warping HD, low-frame-rate video for hemispherical displays.
Waypoint Tool for Mission PlanningWhittaker
With a CMU researcher, a tool to help plan a robotic mission to the Moon.
$ cat era/netapp.log # Member Technical Staff · US patent 8,484,163
Configuration Replication Service across Datacenters
Contributed to the initial design; built early prototypes and validated the concepts against the existing APIs.
Memory Usage and Leak Analysis Tools
Fixed user-space FreeBSD leaks, wrote a gdb heap-walking script, and mentored an intern on gdb-python tooling.
Scalability Stress Testing Experiments
Scalability studies that found ship-stopper issues in response time and memory use; baselines and projection graphs. Recognition award.
Build System Improvements and Performance Analysis Tool
Cut build time by 50%, enabled lint, and redesigned the performance analysis tool to work for two releases.
$ cat papers/all.txt
1st= first author
- 01Texture-Driven Hyperspectral Synthesis for Robotic Exploration1stVijayarangan, WettergreeniSAIRAS 2024
- 02Curated Spectral Reflectance Dataset to Aid Robotic Exploration Research1stVijayarangan, WettergreeniSAIRAS 2024
- 03Assisting Spectral Mapping Using Cameras1stVijayarangan, WettergreenIROS 2023
- 04Stereo Perception in the Dark using Uncalibrated Line Laser1stVijayarangan, WettergreenIROS 2021
- 05Verification of Stereo Camera Calibration using Laser Stripers for a Lunar Micro-Rover1stVijayarangan, WettergreeniSAIRAS 2020
- 06High-throughput Robotic Phenotyping of Energy Sorghum Crops1stVijayarangan, Sodhi, Kini, Bourne, Du, Sun, Poczos, Apostolopoulos, WettergreenFSR 2017
- 07Field Experiments in Robotic Subsurface Science with Long Duration Autonomy1stVijayarangan, Kohanbash, Foil, Zacny, Cabrol, WettergreenFSR 2017
- 08Stereo Visual Inertial LiDAR Simultaneous Localization and MappingShao, Vijayarangan, Li, KantorIROS 2019
- 09In-field Segmentation and Identification of Plant Structures using 3D Imaging · Best Application Paper finalistSodhi, Vijayarangan, WettergreenIROS 2017
- 10Planetary Rover Exploration Combining Remote and In Situ Measurements for Active Spectroscopic MappingCandela, Kodgule, Vijayarangan, Edelson, Thompson, Noe Dobrea, WettergreenICRA 2020
- 11Terrain Mapping and Pose Estimation for Polar Shadowed Regions of the MoonJamal, Gupta, Khera, Vijayarangan, Wettergreen, WhittakeriSAIRAS 2020
- 12Formulation of Micro-Rover Autonomy Software for Lunar ExplorationKumar, Sai, Vijayarangan, Wettergreen, Jones, Callaghan, WhittakeriSAIRAS 2020
- 13Imaging Spectroscopy: Earth and Planetary Remote Sensing with the PSI Tetracorder and Expert Systems from Rovers to EMIT and BeyondClark et al. (incl. Vijayarangan) · Planetary Science Journal 5(12):276PSJ 2024
- 14Rover Science Autonomy in Planetary Exploration: Field Analog TestsNoe Dobrea et al. (incl. Vijayarangan) · Planetary Science Journal 6(2):51PSJ 2025
- 15Estimation of Surface Reflectance and Mineral Composition by Combining In Situ and Remote Spectroscopic MeasurementsCandela et al.AGU 2019
- 16Mineral Abundance Mapping on Global Scales with EMIT for Atmospheric Dust Radiative Forcing Climate Change ModelsClark et al.AGU 2023
- 17Autonomous Rover Science in the Field: First ResultsNoe Dobrea et al.LPSC 2022
- 18Autonomous Rover Science in the Field: Yellow CatNoe Dobrea et al.LPSC 2023