Nathaniel Simon

Aerial Robotics at Princeton University.

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Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Princeton, NJ 08544

I am a PhD Candidate in the Intelligent Robot Motion Lab and FAST Group, co-advised by Ani Majumdar and Marcus Hultmark. My research aims to improve aerial vehicle performance in the real world through tightly-integrated perception, planning, and control. Specifically, using high-dimensional sensors (such as vision and flow sensing) and machine learning to unlock new capabilities. During my PhD, I invented an omnidirectional flow sensor for UAVs (patent) and developed a wind-aware flight controller for gust rejection (FlowDrone). In addition, I advanced state-of-the-art in monocular micro aerial vehicle navigation through simultaneous depth estimation and 3D reconstruction (MonoNav). My work aims to drive transformative autonomy in robotics applications such as urban air mobility, package delivery, infrastructure inspection, and ISR.

Here is a 3-min overview of my recent work, from Princeton Research Day:

Prior to the PhD, I received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. Outside of work, I love to fly aircraft, and I am a member of both the Princeton Flying Club and Soaring Tigers. I recently earned my instrument rating, and have written about my experience here.

Feel free to contact me at: nsimon at princeton dot edu.

news

Oct 28, 2024 New paper alert! Check out: “Distributed feather-inspired flow control mitigates stall and expands flight envelope” in PNAS. Links to News coverage and Youtube video.
Oct 25, 2024 I was thrilled to be a finalist in the Amazon Robotics PhD Student Competition, and to speak at the Fall Research Symposium about MonoNav!
Jun 3, 2024 I will be spending the summer in Santa Cruz, CA at Joby Aviation as a Flight Research Software and Controls Intern!
Mar 15, 2024 I will be giving a talk at UPenn’s GRASP Lab Group Meeting Thank you, Fernando, for hosting!
Feb 12, 2024 We released code for MonoNav, including out-of-the-box demos for depth estimation, fusion, and planning. No robot needed!
Jan 11, 2024 LaDrone, our platform to track individual particles in the atmosphere using micro aerial vehicles, was featured on the front page of APS News! Article: “Drones Blowing, and Flying, In The Wind”
Oct 5, 2023 MonoNav received Best Paper at the Learning Robot Super Autonomy Workshop at IROS 2023!
Sep 10, 2023 Our paper: MonoNav: MAV Navigation via Monocular Depth Estimation and Reconstruction, was accepted to ISER 2023! (Project Page.) See you Chiang Mai!
Sep 2, 2023 I’ll be presenting some new work at the Learning Robot Super Autonomy workshop at IROS: MonoNav: MAV Navigation via Monocular Depth Estimation and Reconstruction. See you in Detroit!
Sep 1, 2023 I’ll be speaking at APS DFD in Washington, DC! Go with the Flow: Micro Aerial Vehicles as Lagrangian Particles in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer.
Aug 30, 2023 Our paper, Online Learning for Obstacle Avoidance, was accepted to CoRL 2023! See you in Atlanta, GA!
Aug 3, 2023 I will be speaking about UAV gust rejection at the PX4 Developer Summit 2023 in New Orleans, LA! See you 10/22!
Jul 13, 2023 I received the Crocco Award for Teaching Excellence, for my work as a teaching assistant in MAE 345/549 Introduction to Robotics!
May 11, 2023 I am thrilled to have received the Outstanding Presentation Award at Princeton Research Day for my 3-min video: “Improving Drone Performance in Wind with Novel, Fast, Sensors”.
Apr 28, 2023 I will be presenting at the Thousand Islands Fluid Dynamics Meeting (TIM) 2023 in Ontario, CA! See you there!
Mar 15, 2023 I am co-organizing the Lab2Real workshop at ICRA 2023. Submissions due April 14th!
Jan 17, 2023 Our FlowDrone paper was accepted to ICRA 2023 in London, UK!
Dec 15, 2022 I will be presenting a poster at the Learning for Agile Robotics workshop at CoRL 2022 in Auckland, NZ!
Nov 19, 2022 I will be presenting our work at APS DFD 2022 in Indianapolis, IN!
Nov 2, 2022 Our manuscript was accepted to the Journal Measurement Science and Technology!
Oct 6, 2022 I will be presenting a poster at DDDAS 2022 in Cambridge, MA! See you there!
Sep 9, 2022 I will be presenting my work (on FlowDrone) at Princeton MAE Research Day!
Jan 25, 2022 Our project (FlowDrone) was featured in the SEAS Magazine: Small, efficient sensors help drones fly in high winds.

publications

  1. MonoNav: MAV Navigation via Monocular Depth Estimation and Reconstruction
    Nathaniel Simon, and Anirudha Majumdar
    In International Symposium on Experimental Robotics (ISER) 2023
  2. FlowDrone: wind estimation and gust rejection on UAVs using fast-response hot-wire flow sensors
    Nathaniel SimonAllen Z Ren, Alexander Piqué, and 4 more authors
    In International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2023
  3. Fast-response hot-wire flow sensors for wind and gust estimation on UAVs
    Nathaniel Simon, Alexander Piqué, David Snyder, and 3 more authors
    Measurement Science and Technology 2022
  4. Distributed feather-inspired flow control mitigates stall and expands flight envelope.
    Girguis Sedky, Nathaniel Simon, Ahmed K. Othman, and 2 more authors
    In 2024
  5. Online Learning for Obstacle Avoidance
    David Snyder, Meghan Booker, Nathaniel Simon, and 4 more authors
    Conference on Robot Learning (CoRL) 2023

patents

  1. Omnidirectional flow sensor (US Patent App. 18/367,015)
    Nathaniel Simon, Alexander Piqué, David Snyder, and 3 more authors
    2024

talks

MonoNav: MAV Navigation via Monocular Depth Estimation and Reconstruction FlowDrone: Wind Estimation and Gust Rejection on UAVs Using Fast-Response Hot-Wire Flow Sensors Fast-response hot-wire flow sensors for wind and gust estimation on UAVs Go with the Flow: Micro Aerial Vehicles as Lagrangian Particles in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer
  • November 19th, 2023: APS DFD 2023
  • October 1st, 2024: AFOSR Program Review, Rome, NY (Virtual)
If you would like to host me for a talk (virtual or in-person), please reach out!