Buck Baskin

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Education¶

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland OH

M.S. Mechanical Engineering¶

Thesis: Biologically Inspired Neural Networks for Control of Legged Robots

Coursework¶

• Intro. to Machine Learning
• Algorithmic Robotics
• Robotics I

B.S. Computer Science¶

Senior Project: Multi-Robot Mapping for Search and Rescue

Coursework¶

• Mobile Robotics
• Intro. to Artificial Intelligence
• Advanced Algorithms

Employment¶

Software Engineer - Cruise¶

Jan 2020 - Current

• Estimation and Control Algorithms for Autonomous Cars

Robotics Perception Engineer - Starsky Robotics¶

June 2018 - Jan 2020

• Built a new localization and mapping system for a self-driving semi truck
• Helped test and launch the first driverless semi truck in the US

Software Team Lead - Biorobotics Lab Autonomous Snowplow¶

Fall 2014 - Spring 2018

• Won 2017 ION Autonomous Snowplow Competition with 25% better snow clearance than 2nd place
• Developed computer vision pipeline in ROS with OpenCV for successful detection of moving obstacle
• Implemented adaptive gradient descent planning for global and local path optimization
• Led reconstruction of navigation systems using Python for prototyping, C++ for critical path nodes

Software Engineer - Markers Investor Relations¶

Fall 2016 - Spring 2017

• Built searchable database of unstructured visual data with MongoDB via scraping and text processing from PDFs
• Designed API for a Node.js microservice to enhance discovery and accessibility of historic financial data
• Integrated customer, business and technical feedback to quickly launch successful features

Software Engineering Intern - Google¶

Summer 2016

• Developed Java server infrastructure for Google Maps mobile and web products
• Improved a code generation tool built with JavaPoet and Dagger to increase development velocity and reduce bugs by topologically sorting generation targets

Robotics Projects¶

3D Printed Walking Robot - Hustlebug¶

Fall 2017 - Spring 2018

• Designed and built an innovative walking leg design optimized for manufacturability and ease of assembly
• Implementing onboard interpreter and sensor platform for easy programming in Python

Visual SLAM for 360 deg. Camera - Parakeet-SLAM¶

Spring 2017

• Implements a modified version of FastSLAM particle and Kalman filter localization and mapping
• Vision system tracks colored features for use in an urban GPS denied environment

Relevant Skills¶

Languages¶

• Python
• Java
• Javascript, Node.js
• C++ (w/ ROS)

Frameworks and Technologies¶

• Git
• Robot Operating System (ROS)
• Numpy/Scipy
• Docker
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Flask
• Dagger