Abel Mendoza

Robotics & Embedded Systems Engineer

Based in Southern California · Open to UAV, aerospace, and defense roles.

I like writing code for the web, electronics and embedded systems, and tinkering with robotics.

When I'm not coding I like aggressively cuddling others on the jiu jitsu mat, reading, and educating myself.

Skills & Technologies

Core autonomous systems competencies, tooling, and embedded platforms.

Python

C++

Bash

Git

Docker

QGroundControl

ROS2

PX4

Grok

Featured Work

Project Showcase

In this video, I'm showcasing my Ω1 robot. Check out my YouTube channel for more robotics videos.

Projects

Selected work in robotics, autonomy, and systems engineering.

Omega-1 — Autonomous Robotics Platform

A distributed autonomous robotics system built on Raspberry Pi 4B using a hybrid architecture: ROS2 handles real-time robot control (motors, sensors, TF, odometry), while a Next.js + FastAPI stack provides operator interaction with no ROS dependency on the client. Designed to scale from manual teleoperation to GPU-accelerated ML autonomy on NVIDIA Jetson Orin.

🤖 ROS2 Node Graph 👁️ 8-Mode Vision Pipeline ⚙️ OmegaOS Orchestrator 📡 Multi-Machine DDS Network

ROS2 hybrid layer: motor_controller_node → PCA9685 PWM, /cmd_vel → differential drive with PID, ramp profiles, thermal watchdog, dead-reckoning odometry, TF2 tree broadcast at 50 Hz
Custom ROS2 interfaces: omega_interfaces package — MotorState/SensorBundle messages, SetVelocity service, DriveToGoal action (nav2-ready)
Multi-machine DDS: CycloneDDS (unicast, multicast disabled) across Raspberry Pi, dev laptop, and Jetson Orin via Tailscale — reliable cross-network ROS2 communication
Vision pipeline: multi-mode perception (ArUco, KCF tracking, motion, face detection) with optional YOLOv8 inference on Jetson Orin; MJPEG stream decoupled from ROS to avoid dual-consumer conflicts on the Pi
OmegaOS: custom service orchestrator with auto-start, crash recovery, and REST control — manages multi-language services (Python, Go, ROS2) with system-level lifecycle control
Web UI: TypeScript · React · Redux · Next.js · TailwindCSS — joystick + Xbox controller teleoperation, live camera, sensor dashboard, vision mode switching
Stack: Python · Go · ROS2 Humble · FastAPI · OpenCV · React · Next.js · WebSockets · CycloneDDS · Docker
Status: Fully operational — supports real-time teleoperation, sensor streaming, and multi-machine ROS2 communication.

Live Demo See Code

PX4 Autonomous Missions — Gazebo Harmonic + MAVROS2

Autonomous UAV mission stack using PX4 v1.15+, Gazebo Harmonic, MAVROS2 (ROS 2 Humble), and MAVSDK-Python. Includes a custom obstacle world with 5 static obstacles for avoidance simulation, a lawnmower scan mission, and full QGroundControl integration.

🚧 5-Obstacle Avoidance World 📡 MAVROS2 + ROS 2 🗺️ QGroundControl 🌍 Full SITL Simulation

Custom Gazebo Harmonic world (obstacle_world.sdf) with 5 static obstacles; obstacle_avoidance.py routes 8 pre-planned waypoints around all obstacles at 20 m altitude with ≥5 m lateral clearance
Lawnmower scan mission (3×3 grid, 9 waypoints, ~20 m step) and fly.py basic test script; post-flight telemetry logged to timestamped CSV and visualized with plot_flight.py
Stack: PX4 v1.15+, Gazebo Harmonic (gz-sim 8.x), ROS 2 Humble, MAVROS2, MAVSDK-Python 2.0+, QGroundControl, Ubuntu 22.04

See Code

Jetson RealSense Perception

Embedded RGB-D perception toolkit for NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano and Intel RealSense D455. Supports standalone pyrealsense2 workflows and ROS2 Humble integration, validated on Ubuntu 22.04 / JetPack L4T 36.4.7.

🟦 NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano 📷 Intel RealSense D455 🛠️ librealsense 2.0 (RSUSB) 🐢 ROS2 Humble

Standalone scripts: capture, camera info probe, obstacle detection, point clouds, IMU, occupancy mapping
ROS2 wrapper validation: realsense2_camera launch, topic sanity, camera_info intrinsics, topic publishers
Documentation + onboarding: hardware setup, software setup, ROS2 setup, troubleshooting, validation checklist
Full validation: rs-enumerate-devices and check_realsense.py; depth/color streaming capture; ROS2 topic and intrinsics checks

See Code

Titan Rover — Autonomous Navigation

Group project with the Titan Rover university club — a team of Cal State Fullerton engineering students. Built and contributed to an autonomous rover using ROS, OpenCV, and sensor fusion for real-world terrain navigation and obstacle avoidance.

🤖 ROS 👁️ OpenCV 📡 Sensor Fusion 🗺️ Autonomous Navigation

Autonomous terrain navigation with real-time obstacle detection using OpenCV
Sensor fusion pipeline integrating camera, IMU, and encoder data
ROS-based architecture with custom nodes for perception and motion planning

▶ Watch Video Titan Rover Club

LoreBook — AI Life Engine

A full-stack AI-powered journaling platform that treats your life as a continuous narrative. Write journal entries — LoreBook automatically writes your biography, builds your timeline, tracks relationships, detects contradictions and identity drift, and predicts your trajectory. Built by Omega Technologies.

🧠 Continuity Intelligence Engine 📖 Auto-Biography Generation 🔎 Hybrid RAG Retrieval ⚙️ 30+ Analytical Engines

Continuity Engine — automatically detects contradictions, identity drift, abandoned goals, emotional arcs, and behavior loops after every journal entry
Custom engine orchestration layer with 30+ named engines, dependency-aware DAG scheduling, and parallel execution via constrained concurrency
Hybrid RAG pipeline: OpenAI embeddings + pgvector + BM25 keyword search + entity boosting + temporal decay weighting + MMR reranking
LoreKeeper Narrative Compiler (LNC) — compiler-inspired epistemic integrity system with Entry IR, dependency graph, entity symbol table with scope resolution, and incremental recompilation
9-layer timeline hierarchy (Mythos → Eras → Sagas → Arcs → Chapters → Scenes → Actions → MicroActions) auto-built from journal entries
Multi-persona AI chat: Gossip Buddy, Therapist, Historian, Strategist, Memory Bank
Performance: multi-level caching (TinyLFU + Supabase), 10-100x speed improvements, eliminated N+1 queries
Stack: TypeScript · React · Node.js · Supabase/PostgreSQL · pgvector · OpenAI · Stripe · GitHub Actions

Live Demo See Code

MacGuardian Watchdog

A comprehensive macOS security suite featuring system hardening, threat detection, AI/ML analysis, and automated remediation. Enterprise-grade security tools for personal and small business use.

🔒 Security Suite 🛡️ Threat Detection 🤖 AI/ML Analysis ⚡ Auto-Fix

System hardening: SIP monitoring, Gatekeeper verification, FileVault encryption
Real-time threat detection: Process monitoring, network analysis, malware scanning
AI/ML-powered security analysis with behavioral pattern recognition
File integrity monitoring with automated incident response
Tech Stack: Shell, Python, Swift (macOS native app)

See Code

Contact

Open to robotics, UAV, embedded systems, and aerospace roles in Southern California.

abelxmendoza@gmail.com