Varad Dhat

👋 Hi! I am Varad Dhat, a recent graduate from the University of Washington, Seattle, with a Master’s Degree. I specialize in robotics, focusing on human-robot interaction in mobile robotics, with applications in home robotics, field robotics, and ground autonomy.

I currently work as a Research Assistant at the Human-Centered Robotics Lab at Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, where I develop task-based shared autonomy systems to enable seamless and safe human-robot collaboration in dynamic environments.

Prior to this, I completed my undergraduate degree at Vishwakarma Institute of Technology. I was part of The Robotics Forum, where I designed and developed semi-autonomous robots from scratch based on specific themes along with a team of 30 for National Robocon_India

Aside from robotics, I am a passionate runner and enjoy participating in marathons. Feel free to check out my activities on Strava🏃

Publications

	Using 3D mouse to control Robot Manipulator Varad Dhat, Nick Walker, Maya Cakmak HRI 2024 Best Paper Award in Short Contributions Paper \| Code \| Poster
	I Can Tell What I am Doing: Toward Real-World Natural Language Grounding of Robot Experiences Zihan Wang, Brian Liang, Varad Dhat, Zander Brumbaugh, Nick Walker, Ranjay Krishna, Maya Cakmak CoRL 2024 Paper \| Website \| Code [Coming Soon]
	AccessTeleopKit: A Toolkit for Creating Accessible Web-Based Interfaces for Tele-Operating an Assistive Robot Vinitha Ranganeni, Varad Dhat, Noah Ponto, Maya Cakmak UIST 2024 Paper \| Code \| Poster

Experience

Company: Terraclear Inc

Role: Robotics Software Engineering Intern

Led hardware setup, software development, and testing of an Autonomous Rock Picker. Tuned PID gains, integrated sensors (encoders, INS, LIDAR, RGBD camera), and deployed a vision model using Docker. Developed GPS-based waypoint navigation, enhancing accuracy by 70% and ensuring robust field performance.

Projects

Gaussian Splatting SLAM For Indoor Environment

Developed a Monocular SLAM pipeline using 3D Gaussian Splatting and YOLOv7-enhanced 3D bounding boxes for improved environment recognition and perception..

Code | Poster | Report

Planning and Control Integration for a mobile robot

Implemented a Particle Filter for precise robot localization and optimized PID and MPC controllers for accurate waypoint-based trajectory following.

Code | Video

Colostomy Care Robot

Built a web interface for robot teleoperation that supports programming by demonstration and user interventions. Implemented and compared gmapping and slamtoolbox for autonomous navigation and manipulation.

Code | Video | Report

Competitions

Robocon 2022

Designed and developed semi-autonomous robots for Robocon 2022, implementing computer vision techniques for ball detection and tuning a PD controller for precision. Established reliable communication using WebSocket instead of Bluetooth.

As a clubhead I was responsible for mentoring students, managing inventory of more then $9500

Secured All India Rank 5 among 100+ participating teams in National level Robocon 2022

Report

Robocon 2021

Developed a semi-autonomous robot for Robocon 2021, utilizing a 3-wheeled omni-drive system controlled via IMU and wheel encoders. Gained experience in robot development, including sensor selection, material fabrication, prototyping solutions, and benchmarking for repeatability.Performed design and fabrication of arrow shooting mechanism that enabled picking arrows from ground and rack.

Secured All India Rank 17 among 100+ participating teams in National level Robocon 2021

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ROBO RUGBY Robocon 2020

Developed an end-to-end system for Robocon 2020 based on the theme. As a junior team member, my task was to design and develop a ball-picking mechanism and a system to throw the ball over a specific distance. I explored various solutions and implemented a robust method that achieved repeatability, accuracy, and minimized energy losses.

Secured All India Rank 19 among 100+ participating teams in National level Robocon 2020

Report