Current:
138 Monte Cresta Avenue, Apt. 308
Oakland, CA 94611
eanelson@eecs.berkeley.edu
Erik+1A.
Nelson
916 365 6345
U.S. Citizen
www.erikarthurnelson.com
Permanent:
P.O. Box 6447
Folsom, CA 95763
nerik43@gmail.com
Research Interests
Robotics (aerial, underwater, ground), 3D computer vision, active perception, SLAM, estimation theory
Education
University of California, Berkeley
Ph.D., Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Carnegie Mellon University, Robotics Institute
M.S., Robotics - QPA: 4.1/4.3
Advisor: Dr. Nathan Michael
Thesis: Environment Model Adaptation for Autonomous Exploration
California Polytechnic State University
B.S., Materials Engineering - GPA: 3.9/4.0
Summa Cum Laude, rank 3 / 1027 graduating engineers.
Berkeley, California
Aug. 2015 - present
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
May 2015
San Luis Obispo, California
Jun. 2013
Professional Experience
Google [x], Self-Driving Car Team
Mountain View, California, USA
Software Engineering Intern
May 2015 - Aug. 2015
• Developed and deployed computer vision algorithms for object detection and multi-view geometry
• Trained machine learning classifiers to detect objects in images with high precision and recall
FMC Schilling Robotics
Davis, California, USA
Software Engineering Intern
Jun. 2013 - Aug. 2013
• Created auto exposure and white balance algorithms to improve HD underwater camera streams
• Integrated HD camera subsystem and algorithms with submersible robot products
FMC Schilling Robotics
Davis, California, USA
Quality Engineering Intern
Jun. 2012 - Aug. 2012
• Characterized cracking in plastic parts subjected to deep-sea environments
• Solved cracking problem by selecting alternative materials and re-engineering fabrication processes
Research Experience
Robust Adaptive Systems Laboratory, Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Research Assistant
Sep. 2013 - present
• M.S. thesis on high-speed autonomous environment exploration with mobile robots
• Built and programmed aerial robots for deployment into the Fukashima Daiichi nuclear reactor for disaster response
• Developed a multi-robot distributed Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) framework
• Implemented onboard real-time laser and inertial 3D SLAM for quadrotor systems
Computer Engineering Dept., Cal Poly University
Bachelor of Science Thesis
• Designed and built a mobile robot with laser, visual, and inertial sensing
• Oversaw development of 2D mapping capabilities
San Luis Obispo, California, USA
Sep. 2012 - Jun. 2013
Computer Science Dept., Cal Poly University
San Luis Obispo, California, USA
Research Assistant
Dec. 2011 - Jun. 2013
• Created novel algorithm to fuse information in stereo images to sonar-generated mesh models
• Produced visually appealing 3D models from underwater sensor data for archaeological study
Intl. Computer Engineering eXperience (ICEX)
Student Researcher
December 5, 2015
Malta and Sicily
Dec. 2012 - Jun. 2013
Erik Nelson Page 1 of 2
• Continuation of ICEX 2012; mentored new students on data collection, algorithms, and international travel
• Assumed responsibility and management of data collection, mapping, and visualization software pipeline
Intl. Computer Engineering eXperience (ICEX)
Malta and Sicily
Student Researcher
Dec. 2011 - Mar. 2012
• International joint research project between Cal Poly, Princeton University, and Harvey Mudd College, involving travelling to the mediterranean to explore caves and cisterns with robots for achaeological study
• Deployed submersible robots into underwater caves and cisterns to produce 3D maps and visualizations
• Led design of a web-based geospacial cave and cistern database application for archaeologist users
Publications and Refereed Conference Papers
[1] Vadim Indelman, Erik Nelson, Jing Dong, Nathan Michael, Frank Dellaert, “Incremental Distributed Inference from
Arbitrary Poses and Unknown Data Association”, In review: IEEE Control Systems Magazine (CSM).
[2] Erik Nelson, Nathan Michael “Information-Theoretic Occupancy Grid Compression for High-Speed Information-Based
Exploration”, IEEE/RSJ Intl. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2015.
[3] Jing Dong, Erik Nelson, Vadim Indelman, Nathan Michael, Frank Dellaert, “Distributed Real-Time Cooperative
Localization and Mapping using an Uncertainty-Aware Expectation Maximization approach”, Intl. Conf. on Robotics
and Automation (ICRA), 2015.
[4] Erik Nelson, Vadim Indelman, Nathan Michael, Frank Dellaert, “An Experimental Study of Robust Distributed
Multi-Robot Data Assocation from Arbitrary Poses”, Intl. Symp. on Experimental Robotics (ISER), 2014.
[5] Vadim Indelman, Erik Nelson, Nathan Michael, Frank Dellaert, “Multi-Robot Pose Graph Localization and Data
Association from Unknown Initial Relative Poses via Expectation Maximization”, Intl. Conf. on Robotics and Automation
(ICRA), 2014.
[6] Erik Nelson, Ian Dunn, Jeffrey Forrester, Timothy Gambin, Christopher Clark, Zoë Wood, “Surface Reconstruction
of Ancient Water Storage Systems”, Intl. Conf. on Comp. Graphics Theory and Appl. (GRAPP), 2014.
Teaching
Guest Lectures
Rapid Information-Based Exploration with a UGV
Robot Autonomy (Carnegie Mellon University 16-662)
Teaching Assistant
• Chemistry for Engineers 1 (Cal Poly Chem 124)
• Chemistry for Engineers 2 (Cal Poly Chem 125)
Study Session Leader
(Twice-weekly review sessions for groups of 10-20 students)
• Engineering Statics (Cal Poly ME 211)
• Mechanics of Materials (Cal Poly CE 204)
• Chemistry for Engineers 2 (Cal Poly CHEM 125)
• Calculus 4 (Cal Poly MATH 241)
• Linear Analysis (Cal Poly MATH 244)
Awards, Scholarships, and Outreach
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Cal Poly Outstanding Graduating Seniors Award
CPConnect Senior Project Funding
Organized and led robotics outreach sessions for elementary school students in Malta and Sicily
CPS ConocoPhillips Scholarship
Cal Poly SAS Outstanding Study Session Leader Award
AΣM Materials Engineering Honor Society
George and Tonny Murray Scholarship
Cal Poly Dean’s List (3.5 GPA or higher): 13 of 13 quarters
Cal Poly President’s List (3 consecutive Dean’s List awards): 4 of 4 years
2013
2013
2012-2013
2012
2012
2012
2010
2009-2013
2009-2013
Skills (years)
Proficient: C/C++ (5), OpenCV (3), LATEX(3), ROS (3), MATLAB (3), hobby electronics (3), BASH(3), PCL (2)
Familiar: OpenGL (2), Arduino (2), SolidWorks (1), Minitab (1), ProEngineer (1), CUDA (0.5),
December 5, 2015
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