About
I am a PhD Researcher at the University of Coimbra (UC) and am forging lifelines in the untamed wilderness. I craft drone navigation systems, employing computer vision, robotics, and AI to pierce the fog of missing person searches, transforming technology into rescue. I am fortunate to find Prof. Helder Araujo, Prof. Lino Marques and Prof. Rui Cortesao as my advisors. My current research “Navigation Systems for Search and Rescue with Drones” is funded by Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Portugal and is associated with Institute of Systems & Robotics - Coimbra (ISR-UC) (Field Robotics Group). I am currently enrolled into PhD in Electrical Engineering and Intelligent Systems that belongs to Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (DEEC-UC) of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology (FCTUC).
My research also transforms drone critical missions, including their role as first responders, enhancing precision agriculture, environmental monitoring, wildfire management, and disaster assessment. These missions enhance the speed, safety, and effectiveness of search and rescue, especially in dangerous or remote environments. They are used to augment and support human teams with key applications like rapid area assessment, person and vehicle detection, communication relay, payload delivery, intelligence, and reconnaissance.
I achieved the robustness for tiny aerial person detection by proposing hybrid YOLO-Transformers, Synaptic Attention and Retention. Currently, I focus on Drone Autonomy: Adaptive Informative Path Planning that is to dynamically plan the most efficient search route based on the terrain, weather conditions, cues and last-known location of the missing person. It avoids obstacles in real-time and prioritizes areas with a higher probability of detection. I use ROS+NVIDIA Jetson Edge device for validation of the proposed methods.
I take a special interest in exploring how intelligent drone swarms can monitor and track dynamic real-world phenomena. I envision sensor-equipped UAV swarms that autonomously perceive, localize, and self-organize—coordinating through decentralized intelligence to collect continuous data streams and capture the evolution of events with high precision, reliability, and safety.
Beyond the lab, I am propelled and captivated by the Mohammed Bin Zayed International Robotics Challenge (MBZIRC), Abu Dhabi’s biennial event that pushes global real-world robotic frontiers, catalyzing resilient solutions and breakthroughs that redefine exploration and cutting-edge innovation.
Experienced in 3 National Projects specializing in the fields of Computer Vision and Robotics. Super nerd who loves and enjoys his work. An adaptive team player, a quick learner with enthusiasm to explore new avenues inspired by exemplary ideas. My motto is to add value to everything I do.
I was a Summer Trainee for Marine Robotics Summer School 2024, organized by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA & MIT Portugal that took place in Azores Islands, Portugal. I worked as a Research Fellow at UC, this fellowship was advised by Prof. David Portugal and Prof. Joao Ferreira. Prior to joining UC, I obtained a M.Sc. degree in Computer Vision in the Erasmus VIsion and RoBOTics (VIBOT) program at the Université de Bourgogne (UB), France. I was a TS MJBP OBC Overseas Scholar. My master thesis was advised by Prof. Antonio Franchi and Prof. Daniel Sidobre within RIS Team at Laboratory for Analysis and Architecture of Systems (LAAS-CNRS), Toulouse, France. I received a B.Tech. degree in Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering (EIE) at Kakatiya University (KU), Warangal, India.
My Personality: Roboticist, Visionary, Purpose-Driven, Innovative, Adaptive, Catalytic and Empathic
7 research papers are under review. Follow me for more updates!
