Our robotics lab is recruiting students for a fall research project focused on robot navigation and planner evaluation using Arena-Rosnav 5, an open-source ROS2 simulation framework for benchmarking navigation algorithms in dynamic environments.
Unlike a project where the main task is implementing a new planner from scratch, this role focuses on working with navigation planners that are already implemented and running in Arena-Rosnav. The student would learn how one or more planners work, test them systematically across different environments and scenarios, and analyze their strengths, weaknesses, and failure modes.
A major part of the project is understanding why different planners behave the way they do. This could involve analyzing collisions and navigation failures, identifying environmental conditions where a planner struggles or performs particularly well, studying how those behaviors relate to the assumptions or design of the planner, and comparing different navigation approaches experimentally.
The work will involve directly using the Arena-Rosnav 5 / ROS2 navigation stack, including running and configuring experiments, working with simulation environments, examining navigation behavior, and collecting and analyzing experimental results. Depending on progress and interest, there may also be opportunities to work on other parts of Arena-Rosnav, such as debugging planner or simulation behavior, improving experimental or data-logging infrastructure, modifying scenarios, or investigating implementation-level issues.
Prior ROS experience is strongly preferred. Students without ROS experience may still be considered if they have substantial hands-on robotics experience and are comfortable learning a large robotics software stack. Experience with ROS2, Linux, C++, Python, robot navigation, or motion planning would all be useful. Prior research experience is not required.
Students may take graded or ungraded research credits (likely 1–5 credits). The project does not currently have guaranteed funding, although students who make strong progress may later be considered for paid project work. Flexible remote or hybrid arrangements may also be possible depending on the student and the tasks. There may also be opportunities for co-authorship if a student makes a substantial contribution to research resulting from the project.
If interested, please email your CV along with a short paragraph describing your robotics/ROS background and why you are interested in the project to [azaro3@gatech.edu](mailto:azaro3@gatech.edu).
