• Can you introduce yourself in a few words?

My name is Huynh Thao Trang Nguyen, please call me Trang. I come from An Giang, a province in Mekong Delta in Vietnam. I obtained the engineer’s degree in Mechatronics from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Viet Nam in 2024. I am currently pursuing a Ph.D research on bio-inspired navigation models for autonomous robots, focusing on distributed navigation and real-time trajectory optimization in unknown environments. I love reading, traveling, outdoor activities, watching various genres of films and listening to different types of music because they evoke a wide range of emotions and offer a multifaceted perspective on life.

• What is your background (education, experience, etc.)?

I have a particular passion for machinery, logical problems, and innovative breakthroughs, which led me to study Mechatronics Engineering at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology. Here are my experiences:

• Feb. 2024 – July. 2024: Intern student at Laboratoire de Conception et d’Intégration des Systèmes (LCIS), Grenoble INP, Valence, France.
• Topic: Multi-robot formation control with experimental validation, under supervision of Assoc. Prof. HDR. Ionela Prodan, LCIS – Grenoble INP
• Activities: Designing and experimental comparison of PI controller, Feedback linearization and LQR controller for a robot in following a trajectory. Designing formation control for multiple robots to form a predetermined shape while avoiding collisions by using Barrier Certificate, controlling the robot system to follow a predefined trajectory while maintaining the shape.
• Apr. 2023 – Feb. 2024: Intern student at NGO-HA-GIA CO.LTD (HCMUT, Ho-Chi-Minh city, Vietnam)
• Topic: Researching and developing autonomous robot’s navigation in an unknown environment
• Activities: Applying ROS to navigation and tracking person in an unknown environment. Researching on the dynamic model applied to reduce vibration for the robot. Researching and developing an algorithm for robots to determine safe space around humans inspired by Hall’s Proxemics Model
• May 2022 – Aug. 2022: Intern student at ROBOT3T CO.LTD (Ho-Chi-Minh city, Vietnam)
• Topic: Development of a feature extraction module for U-Net to enhance performance in plastic bottle defect detection and segmentation
• Activities: Creating a dataset of the company’s bottle products for Deep Learning model. Enhancing feature extraction capabilities of the U-Net model to improve defect detection performance on bottles.
• May 2021 – Dec. 2021: Teaching assistant at SUMATO Academy (Ho-Chi-Minh city, Vietnam)
• Activities: Assisted in teaching and conducted entry-level tests for children in Scratch and Python programming

• Can you briefly explain your thesis topic?

My thesis topic is: Bio-navigation in multi-agents system

Keywords : multi-agent systems, optimization, distributed control, collaborative robots, bio-inspired navigation, environmental reconstruction

The objective is to develop autonomous navigation models for robots or drones in unknown environments. This model is inspired by how the brain of living beings navigates (place cells, grid cells, and head direction cells), with the goal of creating robust, distributable systems for multiple robots that can optimize their movement trajectories.

There are three main research axes:

• Bio-Inspired Navigation: Developing navigation models inspired by biological systems, particularly the navigation mechanisms in mammalian brains (e.g., place cells, grid cells, and head direction cells).
• Motion Planning: Creating algorithms that allow robots or drones to plan and optimize their trajectories, especially in unknown or dynamic environments.
• Multi-Agent Systems: Distributing navigation tasks among multiple agents (robots or drones), enabling them to work together as a  swarm, share information, and perform tasks collaboratively.

• What skills can you share?

I have a solid understanding of the fundamentals of ROS and have hands-on experience with it. I would be more than happy to engage in discussions about ROS and share my insights, while always eager to learn more. Moreover, I pride myself on being a good listener and offering thoughtful advice. So, if you’re ever facing difficulties, don’t hesitate to reach out to me.