# Matt Michini > Staff Software Engineer @ Mytra Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/mattmichini Multidisciplinary engineer and leader with 10+ years of experience in designing, building, and writing software for complex robotics systems in arenas ranging from research labs to large scale customer deployments. I've worked on autonomous vehicles ranging from a tiny toy robot to an 8-ton industrial forklift to a 1-ton cargo drone. I enjoy being where the rubber meets the road - I've debugged gnarly high-stakes issues in the field, shipped robotics software to hundreds of thousands of users, and participated in experimental flight testing of several never-before-flown aircraft. I'm also a believer in the power of great teams - as a leader I strive to create environments where folks can do the best work of their lives and deliver amazing results as a team. ## Work Experience ### Staff Software Engineer @ Mytra Jan 2025 – Present ### Director, Robotics and Test @ Elroy Air Jan 2021 – Jan 2024 | South San Francisco, California, United States Built and led a robotics team responsible for the autonomous taxiing and cargo manipulation capabilities of a novel autonomous aerial+ground cargo drone, encompassing software, sensors, actuators, mechanisms, compute components, electrical systems, and ground support systems. - Recruited, onboarded, and managed a team of 6 software, mechanical, and robotics engineers - Implemented and led team rituals and established strong ways of working, e.g. OKRs, design reviews, quarterly reviews, hackathons, and collaborative goal setting sessions - Led the design, build, and field testing of several autonomous full scale ground demonstrator vehicles, resulting in successful demonstrations for industry groups, key investors, and senior DOD leadership - Designed and implemented avionics and comms system for ⅓-scale Part 107 compliant aircraft, encompassing sensors, flight computers, RF systems, networking, comms buses, and flight logging ### Robotics Software Lead @ Elroy Air Jan 2020 – Jan 2021 | San Francisco, California, United States Led the development of a ROS2-based robotics software stack enabling autonomous ground taxi and cargo pick-up operations for a large cargo-carrying drone. - Authored C++ and Python robotics software modules for sensing, path planning, state estimation, control, cargo pod docking and manipulation, sensor and actuator interfaces, and high level vehicle behaviors - Developed high-fidelity Gazebo simulation environment including virtualized communications busses, device emulators, and simulated cargo manipulation - Led several test campaigns with full scale prototype vehicle, successfully demonstrating outdoor navigation, cargo pod tracking (Lidar/UWB) and manipulation, collision avoidance, and high level vehicle behaviors - Established tools and processes for best software development practices, including diverse compilers, static analysis, build automation, CI, and peer review ### Avionics and Embedded Systems Engineer @ Elroy Air Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco Bay Area - Developed safety critical avionics software in C++ culminating in a successful full-scale flight test campaign - Sole author of mission critical CAN and serial bus drivers for propulsion motor controllers, scanning Lidars, radar altimeter, high-voltage batteries, flight termination system, and air data modules - Developed SIL/HIL simulation environments, including creating realistic emulators for the above devices - Established C++/CMake cross-compile build system, unit test framework, and deployment infrastructure for vehicle’s network of 10 ARM Linux flight computers networked via CAN bus and Ethernet - Served as flight test engineer during first full-scale flight test campaign, including development of processes and checklists as well as hands-on vehicle integration support ### Robotics Software Engineer @ Anki Jan 2017 – Jan 2019 | San Francisco Bay Area Developed core robotics software and firmware for Cozmo and Vector product lines, which shipped to hundreds of thousands of users worldwide. - Wrote and maintained software modules encompassing sensing, control, localization, mapping, simulation, robot behavior, docking, manipulation, IMU bias correction, freefall detection, and table edge detection - Authored several user-facing high-level robot behaviors such as detecting/dancing to music, autonomously returning to the charging dock, interactive user games, and reactions to user behavior - Maintained robot simulation framework including automated simulation CI/regression tests - Initiated several R&D projects that grew into full fledged features and shipped in major releases ### Autonomous Vehicle Software Engineer @ JBT Corporation Jan 2014 – Jan 2016 | Chalfont, PA Worked as part of a small team responsible for the embedded software running onboard industrial mobile robots ranging from small hospital cart transport vehicles to industrial forklifts that carry 40+ tons. - Wrote, supported, and maintained embedded software (C/C++) for industrial Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), encompassing navigation, control, comms, application scripting, safety systems, and error handling - Led successful software development of a decentralized fleet management architecture which reduced installation hours and on-site infrastructure requirements - Created MATLAB and Python tools to aid in debugging, simulation, error analysis, and vehicle calibration ### Graduate Research Assistant @ Drexel University Jan 2012 – Jan 2014 | Scalable Autonomous Systems Lab At Drexel, I was a member of the Scalable Autonomous Systems Lab (advisor: Prof. Ani Hsieh), where I completed my M.S. thesis work. - Thesis topic: Multi-robot control strategy to track separating boundaries (coherent structures) in general time-dependent flows, e.g., ocean flows. - Thesis work resulted in 4 published first-author papers, including 1 journal article. - Designed, built, and wrote embedded control software for a fleet of small (~50g) autonomous boats for use with lab’s experimental flow tank. - Wrote C++ and MATLAB data streaming clients for lab motion capture system. ### Undergraduate Research Assistant @ McGill University Jan 2012 – Jan 2012 | Aerospace Mechatronics Lab As part of a summer internship (advisor: Prof. Inna Sharf), I worked on integrating an autonomy sensor suite onto the lab's Draganflyer X8 octo-rotor helicopter. In addition, I designed and built an automated test stand to study the performance of coaxial rotor pairs in varying conditions, including rotor interactions and proximity (ground/ceiling) effects. ### Undergraduate Research Assistant @ Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Jan 2010 – Jan 2010 | Aerospace Controls Lab As part of a summer internship (advisor: Prof. Jonathan How), I designed and fabricated an automated battery swap/recharging station for autonomous quadrotor helicopters. Tasks included design of an 8-bay rotating drum mechanism, PCB layout and design, control firmware development, and on-vehicle mating component design. This work led to a US Patent (US 8862288B2). In addition, I aided in the successful development of an in-house quadrotor airframe and onboard power/communications management circuit board. ## Education ### Master of Science (MS) in Mechanical Engineering Drexel University ### Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.) in Mechanical Engineering McGill University ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mattmichini - Website: http://mattmichini.com --- Source: https://flows.cv/mattmichini JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/mattmichini/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-01