Dr Fernando Vanegas Alvarez

Research Fellow

PhD (Queensland University of Technology)

Fernando Vanegas is a Research Fellow in Robotics at Queensland University of Technology. He holds a M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Halmstad University and a PhD in Aerial Robotics from QUT. He has developed frameworks for UAV mission planning in GPS-denied environments for navigation, target finding and tracking purposes using machine learning techniques based on reinforcement learning and optimal sequential decision making. His current research interests include motion planning for UAV exploration in GPS-denied and cluttered environments, POMDP, SLAM and Visual Odometry.

Projects

• Aerial Mapping of Forests Affected by Pathogens using UAVs, Hyperspectral Sensors and Artificial Intelligence: Myrtle Rust
• Autonomous Mission Planning, Navigation and Geological Feature Recognition using UAVs (Drones)
• Autonomous UAV decision making under environment and target detection uncertainty
• Multi-UAV Navigation in GPS-Denied Environments under Location and Environmental Uncertainty
• Navigating Under the Forest Canopy and in the Urban Jungle
• UAV Navigation using semantic cues
• UAVs/ Drones for Agriculture and Plant Biosecurity
• Use of UAS and Hyperspectral Remote Sensing for Early detection of Phylloxera Infestation in Vineyards
• When every second counts: Multi-drone navigation in GPS-denied environments