APURVAKUMAR JANI

apurvakumar.jani@gmail.com LinkedIn Google Scholar
// Professional Summary

Senior Robotics Software Engineer with 8+ years of experience designing and deploying autonomous control systems at scale. Led end-to-end architecture of LiDAR-based collision avoidance, driving control, and motion planning pipelines across a fleet of 1,000+ warehouse robots.

// Professional Experience
Senior Robotics Software Engineer Jun 2025 – Present
Symbotic — Greater Boston, MA
  • Owned end-to-end driving control architecture from algorithm design through production deployment across a fleet of 1,000+ robots operating in structured warehouse environments.
  • Architected motion planning and trajectory generation pipeline, enabling smooth, collision-aware navigation at scale.
  • Led design and deployment of LiDAR-based collision detection architecture, reducing collision incidents by 20% and improving site-wide operational safety.
  • Implemented and tuned Kalman Filter and Particle Filter based state estimation pipelines, improving robot localization accuracy in dynamic warehouse environments.
  • Developed and integrated Behavior Tree based control architecture, enabling modular, scalable, and fault-tolerant robot decision-making across diverse operational scenarios.
  • Led design of software-defined robot architecture, decoupling hardware-specific logic from core control software to enable scalable deployment across robot variants.
  • Collaborated with routing and hardware teams to optimize path planning and trajectory generation, improving fleet throughput and reducing motion conflicts.
  • Mentored 3 interns on driving control and state estimator projects, guiding them from onboarding through implementation and code review.
Advanced Software Engineer — Robotics Controls Oct 2021 – Jun 2025
Symbotic — Greater Boston, MA
  • Developed core control software for autonomous robots using C++ and ROS2.
  • Reduced robot downtime by 50% through root cause analysis of estimation errors and redesign of state estimation and fault recovery pipelines.
  • Developed and validated advanced driving control algorithms adaptable across a fleet of heterogeneous robots, improving cross-platform motion consistency.
  • Improved per-robot software scalability by abstracting robot capabilities into configurable microservices, reducing integration effort across new robot configurations.
  • Diagnosed and fixed critical CANopen (Controller Area Network) related issues which contributed to high downtime of robot.
  • Served as Scrum Master for controls team, facilitating sprint planning and cross-team coordination.
Robotics Test Engineer Mar 2021 – Oct 2021
Symbotic — Greater Boston, MA
  • Developed and improved test setup and scripts written in C++ and Python.
  • Troubleshot and tested control and software changes on robots.
  • Developed simulation modules and executables for the Gazebo simulation platform.
  • Bridged communication gap between Hardware and Software teams for robot development.
Robotics Researcher Dec 2018 – Mar 2021
HILS Lab, University at Buffalo — Buffalo, NY
  • Part of DARPA OFFSET project; developed and implemented robust multi-robot formation control algorithms.
  • Contributed as developer in PyBullet-based low fidelity swarm learning environment to teach AI to swarm of UAVs and UGVs with human-in-the-loop interfaces.
  • Developed robotics control framework using ROS, Python and C++ for robotic arm.
  • Designed a modular version of a variable stiffness magnetic gripper (patented by HILS Lab); implemented real-time stiffness control via Touch display HMI integrated with Raspberry Pi.
Design R&D Engineer Jul 2016 – Jul 2018
TATA Technologies — Pune, India
  • Worked onsite at TATA Motors plant to identify and troubleshoot issues arising during production of new vehicles.
  • Provided technical support in developing ladder logic and HMI for Siemens PLC systems.
  • Carried out validation tests for integration of electro-mechanical components on the production line.
// Education
Master of Science (Thesis) in Mechatronics and Control Sep 2020
University at Buffalo, SUNY | GPA: 3.9
Coursework: Mechatronics, Advanced Control Systems, Manufacturing Automation, Continuous Control Systems, System Analysis, Design and Optimization, Heuristic Optimization, Human-Robot Interaction.
// Core Competencies & Technical Skills
Languages:
Python, C++, C#, Java, SQL, MATLAB, Simulink, LabVIEW, PLC Ladder
Frameworks:
ROS2, ROS, Gazebo, PyBullet, MAVROS, OpenCV
Protocols:
CANopen, CAN, I2C, UART, SPI, Modbus
Domains:
Control Systems, Motion Planning, State Estimation (Kalman/Particle Filters), Behavior Trees, Mechatronics Design, Optimization, Scrum/Agile
// Certifications

Certified Scrum Master (PSM1) — Scrum.org