SAYANTANI BHATTACHARYA
I work across full autonomy stack, focused on Perception & Multi-Agent Systems. From fleet software on 160+ warehouse robots to MS at Northwestern to now a Founding Engineer, I've worked on Underwater ROVs, AMRs, UGVs, Bimanual Arms, Quadrupeds and more...
News
- [2026.06] Won the Bay Area chapter of the ICRA WBCD Challenge 2026, a bimanual arm logistics packing competition.
- [2026.01] Joined full-time as Founding Robotics Engineer at Laki Robotics.
- [2025.12] Completed MS Robotics at Northwestern University.
- [2025.08] Joined Laki Robotics, a Silicon Valley based startup, as a part-time consulting engineer.
- [2025.04] Worked as a graduate researcher at Northwestern's SeNSE Lab, working on bio-inspired underwater perception.
- [2024.08] Started Master in Robotics (MSR) program at Northwestern University.
- [2024.06] Wrapped up ~2 years at Addverb, shipping AGV & AMR fleet-scheduling software running on up to 160+ warehouse robots.
- [2023.12] Published a paper in IEEE CDC 2023.
- [2023.08] Got Promoted in Addverb.
- [2022.11] Published a paper in MDPI Sensors 2022.
- [2022.08] Joined Addverb, a global warehouse robotics company based in Delhi, India.
- [2022.06] Completed B.Tech from IIT ISM Dhanbad.
- [2021.11] Presented at the Symposium on Ultrasonic Electronics, Japan 2021.
- [2021.08] Interned as a Robotic Control Researcher at IIT Delhi, working on force control for robot manipulators.
- [2021.01] Interned as a Perception Researcher at UiT - The Arctic University of Norway.
- [2020.11] Started as an Undergraduate Research Assistant at IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, working on a Stewart parallel manipulator.
- [2020.10] Finished Top 10 for the Samsung Innovation Award 2020.
- [2020.06] Interned at the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, designing PID controller algorithms for reactor systems.
- [2020.03] Finished Top 4 nationwide in the Cipher Decrypter Hackathon.
- [2018.08] Got accepted to IIT ISM Dhanbad via JEE Advanced.
- [2018.07] Won the INSPIRE scholarship, ranking in the top 1% of 6 lakh students nationally.
Featured Projects
Full robotics stack →Collaborative SLAM for Quadruped Fleet
A decentralized SLAM and exploration system for a fleet of Unitree quadruped robots, combining visual and LiDAR SLAM for autonomous mapping in disaster-response scenarios.
Bio-Inspired Underwater ROV
Bio-inspired underwater perception research at Northwestern's SeNSE Lab — an ROV with seal-whisker-inspired sensing for tracking prey underwater.
Apex Putter
A Franka Emika Panda arm programmed to detect a golf ball and hole via computer vision, then plan and execute a precise putt.
Robotics Engineer at Addverb
Fleet-scheduling and task-assignment software for warehouse AMR/AGV fleets, developed as a Robotics Engineer at Addverb — published in IEEE CDC 2023.
Real-Time Pose Graph Estimation
A real-time visual-inertial pose graph estimation system built from scratch in C++/ROS 2, using ORB/SIFT feature matching and g2o optimization.
RL Agents Playing Table Tennis
Two multi-agent reinforcement learning agents trained with MADDPG to cooperatively and competitively play table tennis.
My Robotics Stack
Collaborative SLAM for Quadruped Fleet
A decentralized SLAM and exploration system for a fleet of Unitree quadruped robots, combining visual and LiDAR SLAM for autonomous mapping in disaster-response scenarios.
Pen Grasping Challenge
PincherX100 Arm programmed to detect, calibrate, manipulate and grasp a pen using OpenCV and depth sensing via Intel RealSense D435i.
Bio-Inspired Underwater ROV
Bio-inspired underwater perception research at Northwestern's SeNSE Lab — an ROV with seal-whisker-inspired sensing for tracking prey underwater.
Apex Putter
A Franka Emika Panda arm programmed to detect a golf ball and hole via computer vision, then plan and execute a precise putt.
Low Light Object Tracking
Detecting and tracking a moving object in pitch dark using thermal imaging and computer vision.
F1 Ghost Racing using Visual-Inertial Odometry
A multiplayer racing game using visual-inertial odometry to score players on how accurately they follow a defined track.
Publications
Conflict-Free Node-to-Robot Scheduling for Lifelong Operation in a Warehouse with Narrow-Corridor Environment
Multiple Damage Detection in PZT Sensor Using Dual Point Contact Method
Multiple Damage Detection in Piezoelectric Ceramic Sensor Using Scanning Point Contact Excitation and Detection Method
Who is at the desk
I build because I can't not... robots, systems, ideas, whatever's in front of me. Robotics was the obvious intersection: something I love making that could actually make life better for people.
8 years in, that instinct has carried me across the full autonomy stack. I've written fleet software coordinating hundreds of warehouse robots in production, published in IEEE CDC 2023, taught a Rover to sense underwater like a seal, and built quadruped teams that map unknown terrain together. Right now I'm a founding engineer at a Silicon Valley startup, building collaborative intelligence.
Engineer, developer, empath, and most importantly, a dreamer. I believe the world needs gentler machines. I like making things that work and making them with people who care. If that sounds like you, let's talk..