Akash Vijayakumar's Project Portfolio

Robotics Researcher — Reinforcement Learning & Autonomous Systems

I am Akash Vijayakumar, an MSc Robotics with Industrial Applications student at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. I have a strong background in robotics, autonomous navigation, collision avoidance, and docking algorithms for autonomous surface vessel (ASV) and underwater (AUV) systems.

I am experienced in Reinforcement Learning (PPO, SAC, DQN), Inverse RL, Model Predictive Control (MPC), and Model Predictive Path Integral Control (MPPI). Currently working on a Multi-Agent RL framework for AUV navigation, collision avoidance, and manipulator control at the Ocean Systems Lab, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.

I completed my BTech in Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering from IIT Madras, where I was a research student at the Marine Autonomous Vehicles Laboratory (MAVLAB). I have five peer-reviewed publications in international conferences and two international competition wins in marine autonomous navigation challenges.