Saket Pradhan
Saket Pradhan
Robotics @ University of Michigan
Robotics @ University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI, US
Bringing robots to life.
Hi there 👋
Hi there 👋
I'm Saket — Software Developer | Robotics Enthusiast | Chess Player
I build applications on computer vision and real-time AI. I completed my Master’s at the University of Michigan, studying Robotics, with a keen interest in vision-guided mobility systems. I was a Graduate Student Research Assistant at the Autonomous Robotic Manipulation (ARM) Lab on the Spot robot by Boston Dynamics, for research in computer vision and LLM-guided autonomy. I was also a Graduate Student Instructor for ROB 550: Robotics Systems Lab.
Previously, I worked at Invideo AI, a video creation platform using AI to create professional clips for marketing, promotions, and more. I've also interned with the JSW Group and Nucsoft, and did Computer Vision research with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). I built AgroQR, a novel approach for open-world environmental sensing using a UAV fleet enabling hyperlocal surface monitoring.
In my free time, I enjoy rock/ice climbing and studying linguistics, particularly the history and evolution of world languages [ps. I have a 1500 day streak🔥on Duolingo]. I'm an avid racing fan and was involved in Formula Student projects during my undergrad.
If you're interested in open-world mobile robot systems or want to connect, feel free to reach out at saketp@umich.edu
Research & Teaching 🔬
Research & Teaching 🔬
Ann Arbor, MI
University of Michigan Robotics Department
Aug 24 – Dec 24
Graduate Student Instructor
Co-Instructor for ROB 550: Robotics Systems Lab, Advisor: Peter Gaskell
Lab on sensing, reasoning, and acting for physical systems, including kinematics, localization, planning, control, vision, and design integration.
Ann Arbor, MI
University of Michigan Robotics Department
Aug 24 – Dec 24
Graduate Student Instructor
Co-Instructor for ROB 550: Robotics Systems Lab, Advisor: Peter Gaskell
Lab on sensing, reasoning, and acting for physical systems, including kinematics, localization, planning, control, vision, and design integration.
Ann Arbor, MI
University of Michigan Robotics Department
Jan 24 – Aug 24
Graduate Student Research Assistant
Autonomous Robotic Manipulation Lab (ARMLAB), Advisor: Dmitry Berenson
ARMLAB conducts research in motion planning, robot manipulation, SLAM, and human-robot collaboration. I built perception, navigation and manipulation systems for the Boston Dynamics' Spot Robot; Spot SDK’s integration with ROS2
Ann Arbor, MI
University of Michigan Robotics Department
Jan 24 – Aug 24
Graduate Student Research Assistant
Autonomous Robotic Manipulation Lab (ARMLAB), Advisor: Dmitry Berenson
ARMLAB conducts research in motion planning, robot manipulation, SLAM, and human-robot collaboration. I built perception, navigation and manipulation systems for the Boston Dynamics' Spot Robot; Spot SDK’s integration with ROS2
Bengaluru, KA, India
Indian Institute of Science (IISc)
Oct 22 – Jan 23
Computer Vision Research Intern
‘Domain Adaptive Semantic Segmentation of Indian Road Scenes’ for autonomous driving and navigation systems.
Joint initiative between Wipro and IISc under project WIRIN.
Bengaluru, KA, India
Indian Institute of Science (IISc)
Oct 22 – Jan 23
Computer Vision Research Intern
‘Domain Adaptive Semantic Segmentation of Indian Road Scenes’ for autonomous driving and navigation systems.
Joint initiative between Wipro and IISc under project WIRIN.
Work Experience 🏢
Work Experience 🏢
Mumbai, MH, India
Invideo AI
Feb 23 – Aug 23
Software Engineer
Developed a NeRF model with audio-based latent space manipulation, replacing a third-party service and saving $15K/month.
Full-stack support for ML features in Elixir and Rust, integrating low-latency production inference pipelines to the product codebase.
Mumbai, MH, India
Invideo AI
Feb 23 – Aug 23
Software Engineer
Developed a NeRF model with audio-based latent space manipulation, replacing a third-party service and saving $15K/month.
Full-stack support for ML features in Elixir and Rust, integrating low-latency production inference pipelines to the product codebase.
Mumbai, MH, India
Nucsoft
Feb 22 – Jul 22
Software Engineer
Developed an edge-based OCR redaction tool in Java and Spring Boot to securely mask sensitive data from government-issued IDs.
Replaced a workflow with a containerized microservice on Linux servers, reducing processing latency by 8% and inference costs by 40%.
Mumbai, MH, India
Nucsoft
Feb 22 – Jul 22
Software Engineer
Developed an edge-based OCR redaction tool in Java and Spring Boot to securely mask sensitive data from government-issued IDs.
Replaced a workflow with a containerized microservice on Linux servers, reducing processing latency by 8% and inference costs by 40%.
Mumbai, MH, India
Mavericks Racing
May 20 – Jan 22
Team Lead – Autonomous Vehicle Development
Developed key modules in perception, autonomy, and control; led an autonomy sub-team within a 40-member Formula Student team.
Implemented live obstacle detection on embedded hardware, contributing to a 2nd place national finish at Formula Imperial 2020.
Mumbai, MH, India
Mavericks Racing
May 20 – Jan 22
Team Lead – Autonomous Vehicle Development
Developed key modules in perception, autonomy, and control; led an autonomy sub-team within a 40-member Formula Student team.
Implemented live obstacle detection on embedded hardware, contributing to a 2nd place national finish at Formula Imperial 2020.
Mumbai, MH, India
JSW Steel
May 21 – Aug 21
Data Analyst
JSW produces steel products for infrastructure, automotive, and construction.
Built Bayesian inference models on thermal data to predict wire rod properties (R² = 0.87), increasing quality evaluation speed by 20%.
Mumbai, MH, India
JSW Steel
May 21 – Aug 21
Data Analyst
JSW produces steel products for infrastructure, automotive, and construction.
Built Bayesian inference models on thermal data to predict wire rod properties (R² = 0.87), increasing quality evaluation speed by 20%.
Education 🎓
Education 🎓
Ann Arbor, MI
Feb 25 – April 25
Student Trainee
NSF Great Lakes I-Corps
The National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps™) program uses experiential education to help researchers gain valuable insight into industry requirements and challenges.
Ann Arbor, MI
Feb 25 – April 25
Student Trainee
NSF Great Lakes I-Corps
The National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps™) program uses experiential education to help researchers gain valuable insight into industry requirements and challenges.
Ann Arbor, MI
Aug 23 – Dec 24
MS Robotics
University of Michigan
CGPA 3.83/4 Senator @Engineering Student Govt., ARV Team, Michigan MHacks 23/24, IROS 23, Linguistics, Staff: M|Dining Relevent Courses: Math for Robotics, Robotics Systems Lab, Computer Vision, Mobile Robotics, Self-Driving Cars, Deep Learning, Linear Feedback Control
Ann Arbor, MI
Aug 23 – Dec 24
MS Robotics
University of Michigan
CGPA 3.83/4 Senator @Engineering Student Govt., ARV Team, Michigan MHacks 23/24, IROS 23, Linguistics, Staff: M|Dining Relevent Courses: Math for Robotics, Robotics Systems Lab, Computer Vision, Mobile Robotics, Self-Driving Cars, Deep Learning, Linear Feedback Control
Prague, Czech Republic
Jul 24 – Aug 24
Summer School on Multi-Robot Systems
Czech Technical University in Prague
Designed control algorithms for coordinating multi-robot Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), enabling synchronized operations and search
Prague, Czech Republic
Jul 24 – Aug 24
Summer School on Multi-Robot Systems
Czech Technical University in Prague
Designed control algorithms for coordinating multi-robot Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), enabling synchronized operations and search
Certifications 🪪
Certifications 🪪
AWS Fundamentals Specialization
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
AWS Fundamentals Specialization
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Deep Learning Specialization
deeplearning.ai
Deep Learning Specialization
deeplearning.ai
Self-Driving Cars Specialization
University of Toronto
Self-Driving Cars Specialization
University of Toronto
Data Mining Specialization
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Data Mining Specialization
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Awards & Achievements 🏆
Awards & Achievements 🏆
TEDxDetroit 2024
Speaker Support, TEDxDetroit 2024, September 18, Wayne State University Fieldhouse
TEDxDetroit is an annual gathering of the area’s leading thinkers, designers, entrepreneurs, educators, scientists, and artists in downtown Detroit. This will be our 16th year of the popular day-long conference, which shines a light on remarkable technologies, companies, and people that make Detroit an amazing place to live, work, and play.
TEDxDetroit 2024
Speaker Support, TEDxDetroit 2024, September 18, Wayne State University Fieldhouse
TEDxDetroit is an annual gathering of the area’s leading thinkers, designers, entrepreneurs, educators, scientists, and artists in downtown Detroit. This will be our 16th year of the popular day-long conference, which shines a light on remarkable technologies, companies, and people that make Detroit an amazing place to live, work, and play.
Singapore–India Hackathon 2023
Represented India, SIH held alongside bilateral talks with Singapore during India's G20 2023 Summit
Singapore-India Hackathon promotes bilateral collaboration in Fintech, Sustainability, and ESG between students and startups from both nations. The final event was held as a part of India's G20 Presidency. Organized by NTU Singapore and AICTE India, it partnered with key industry and government bodies like MAS, CII, and Startup India.
Singapore–India Hackathon 2023
Represented India, SIH held alongside bilateral talks with Singapore during India's G20 2023 Summit
Singapore-India Hackathon promotes bilateral collaboration in Fintech, Sustainability, and ESG between students and startups from both nations. The final event was held as a part of India's G20 Presidency. Organized by NTU Singapore and AICTE India, it partnered with key industry and government bodies like MAS, CII, and Startup India.
Smart India Hackathon 2022
Winner: AK1142, CGISP: Centralised GIS System for Indian Shipping Ports
Smart India Hackathon is a premier nationwide initiative designed to engage students in solving some of the most pressing challenges faced in everyday life. It has garnered significant success in promoting out-of-the-box thinking among young engineering students from across India. The hackathon offers collaboration with industry experts, government agencies, and other stakeholders.
Smart India Hackathon 2022
Winner: AK1142, CGISP: Centralised GIS System for Indian Shipping Ports
Smart India Hackathon is a premier nationwide initiative designed to engage students in solving some of the most pressing challenges faced in everyday life. It has garnered significant success in promoting out-of-the-box thinking among young engineering students from across India. The hackathon offers collaboration with industry experts, government agencies, and other stakeholders.
