Aaron Maitland is a robotics engineer at Leidos. He is responsible for the real-time performance of robotics navigation software. In this role, he integrates sensors, navigation software, computer vision algorithms, and deep learning networks, and led a recent demonstration of an autonomous navigation system.
This was a very successful demonstration for the Army Robotics community, showing accurate navigation in an urban environment without the use of GPS. Aaron was responsible for bringing together a nonlinear sensor fusion algorithm, sensors, and an embedded CPU/GPU computer system. He is now working with the military to deploy this system to units in the field.
Aaron plays a key role in getting technology out to the Warfighter. He often travels to military test sites to demonstrate navigation technology on unmanned airborne robotic systems and he shows great skill when debugging things out in the field. He also demonstrates leadership as he works with others in these environments.
But it is not enough for Aaron to make meaningful contributions by delivering high-tech capabilities. No, he wants to inspire and motivate students who might not otherwise dream of careers such as his. So he gives back to his community by leading a robotics team at a local high school that has a large percentage of students from low-income communities.