Phat Dang

About

Robotics software engineer with hands-on hardware integration who built an AI-enabled smart dog door using a Raspberry Pi, camera-based recognition (DeepFace adapted for dogs), and stepper motor control (TB6600/NEMA 17). Experienced in ROS/ROS 2 across perception-to-controls, rigorous bag-driven debugging of SLAM/navigation issues, and deploying robot software with simulation-in-the-loop testing plus Docker/Kubernetes CI/CD.

Experience

Education

Key Strengths

• End-to-end robotics system integration (perception, localization, navigation, controls)
• Strong ROS 2 architecture practices (composable nodes, clear message boundaries, TF2 frame management)
• Methodical real-time debugging using deterministic reproduction and minimal-topic rosbag capture
• Distributed robotics communication design (namespacing, interface standardization, DDS/QoS tuning, bridges/gateways)
• Simulation-to-real validation workflow (URDF/Xacro modeling, Gazebo/Ignition/Webots, RViz + bag-based regression)
• Production-minded deployment and automation (Docker, Kubernetes/Helm, GitHub Actions CI/CD, versioned artifacts)
• Hands-on mechatronics integration (stepper drivers/motors wiring and control via Raspberry Pi)
• Applied ML model evaluation and adaptation (selecting and fine-tuning DeepFace for dog identification)

Reference Highlights

• dependable
• knowledgeable
• one of the best employees in the department
• able to work on multiple projects with competing priorities
• motivated to learn unfamiliar things
• has the skills to excel in the role
• primary software programmer on senior design project
• works well with team members
• effective in hands-on, collaborative environments
• handles multiple tasks well
• executes urgent software changes quickly and easily