Robert Macpherson Email & Phone Number

Dulles, Virginia, United States

-Designed and executed an optimization study for a low earth orbit (LEO) swarm of space vehicles designed to use laser ablation techniques to perform Just in time Collision Avoidance (JCA) to prevent large on orbit derelicts from colliding with spacecraft.-Developed a 3 DOF orbital simulator in Julia to model a spacecraft swarm of laser platforms and debris cluster and designed a gradient descent optimization algorithm to maximize laser coverage of the derelict cluster by a collaborate laser satellite swarm-Worked a Northrop internal research and development (IRAD) project developing spacecraft buses for efficient LEO constellation deployment via modular payload hosting-Performed Monte Carlo GNC simulations of spacecraft dynamics to validate tipoff stabilization using new sensor suite CONOPS and new satellite simulator features

Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

-Developed an autonomous drone system designed for reinforcement learning powered autonomy to autonomously map an arena, evade an adversary, and inspect/identify points of interest-Lead the autonomy and simulation subteam in the development of the autonomy stack, computer vision algorithms, 3 DOF and 6 DOF simulations for reinforcement learning training, and designing autonomous system architecture-Developed 6 DOF simulation, LiDAR ingestion algorithms, object detection algorithms, and our autonomous ROS control functionalities

-Worked on spacecraft buses for efficient LEO constellation deployment as part of a Northrop internal research and development project (IRAD)-Prepared for program’s preliminary design review (PDR) by performing simulation trials in STK-Analyzed steering modes for the spacecraft’s flight dynamics using STK and Matlab scripting-Managed electrical and logical interfaces between spacecraft components using SysML-Designed, researched, led, and presented solutions to space debris for an internally funded Northrop hackathon.

Managed the development, design, production, and assembly of the Launch Mount for MASA's Clementine rocket. Coordinated with subteam leads and team members to integrate the Launch Mount component into the overall rocket design and have it produced and assembled in time for launch.

College Park, Maryland, United States

Worked as a lab intern to implement metareasoning in the ArtIAMAS project, a collaboration with the US Army Lab (https://artiamas.umd.edu/). The goal of this project is to improve robots’ ability to cooperate with humans, coordinate with other robots, and autonomously accomplish tasks more efficiently in a variety of environments. To read more about the ArtIAMAS project: https://isr.umd.edu/sites/isr.umd.edu/files/Summer_2022_SS.pdfTechnical Report on my team’s work: https://drum.lib.umd.edu/handle/1903/29723

Subteam lead for quick disconnect systems for MASA's Clementine rocket.

- Summer intern for U.S. Commercial Services- Conducted market research for companies, assisted with export counseling, and performed due diligence on behalf of U.S. Commercial Service Trade Specialists- Built Salesforce performance dashboards for the U.S. Commercial Service’s Congressional review

Bachelor Of Science In Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, 3.8/4.0

Activities and Societies: Michigan Aeronautical Science Association, Michigan Men's Rugby Team

Education record

Activities and Societies: Robotics Team Captain, Tech Ethics Club President and Founder, Cross Country Team Leader, Government Club member.