John Abanes

PhD Student in Electrical Engineering at NYU Tandon. Building robots that navigate, map, and clean up the world — from thermal point clouds to ocean trash retrieval.

Robotics ROS / ROS 2 SLAM Computer Vision Autonomous Navigation
4
Publications
34
Citations
198
GitHub Stars
John Abanes

Publications

CVPR 2025

CityWalker: Learning Embodied Urban Navigation from Web-Scale Videos

X Liu, J Li, Y Jiang, N Sujay, Z Yang, J Zhang, J Abanes, J Zhang, C Feng

28 Citations Computer Vision Navigation
2025
Frontiers

ATRON: Autonomous Trash Retrieval for Oceanic Neatness

J Abanes, H Jang, B Erkinov, J Awadalla, A Tzes

First Author Marine Robotics Autonomous Systems
2025
arXiv

MV-UMI: A Scalable Multi-View Interface for Cross-Embodiment Learning

O Rayyan, J Abanes, M Hafez, A Tzes, F Abu-Dakka

4 Citations Robot Learning Imitation Learning
2025
ICRA 2023

Autonomous and Continuous As-is 3D Thermal Mapping for Construction Environments

JRY Abanes, SA Prieto, BG de Soto

First Author 3 Citations Thermal Mapping
2023

Featured Projects

ATRON USV

ATRON — Autonomous Ocean Cleanup USV

An unmanned surface vehicle for autonomous debris collection using 360-camera, 2D LiDAR, and YOLOv11 object detection. Features high-fidelity Isaac Sim simulation with realistic buoyancy physics and wave conditions up to Beaufort Scale 4.

ROS 2 Isaac Sim YOLOv11 SLAM Python
Insta360 ROS Driver

Insta360 ROS Driver

Open-source ROS 2 driver for Insta360 cameras enabling real-time dual fisheye and equirectangular image publishing, IMU data streaming, and on-the-fly calibration. Supports X2 and X3 at up to 3840x1920@30fps. 198 stars on GitHub.

ROS 2 Python C++ IMU Fusion Camera SDK
Curb2Door

Curb2Door — Outdoor-to-Indoor Navigation Data

Handheld data collection system combining 360-camera and LiDAR for creating 3D visual maps via R3LIVE SLAM. Includes a cross-platform GUI for remote sensor control, recording, and real-time monitoring. NYU UGSRP 2024 project at AI4CE Lab.

ROS R3LIVE LiDAR 3D Mapping PySide6
TPCMapping

TPCMapping — Thermal Point Cloud Mapping

Autonomous thermal point cloud generation for construction environments. Integrates FLIR A65 infrared camera, Ouster LiDAR, and pan-tilt unit on a SUMMIT-XL robot using ROS. Published at ICRA 2023 Future of Construction Workshop.

ROS C++ Thermal Imaging SLAM R3LIVE
MV-UMI

MV-UMI — Multi-View Imitation Learning

A scalable multi-view data collection interface for cross-embodiment robot learning. Incorporates exocentric views into robot-free training data to avoid distribution shifts between training and deployment. Custom lightweight gripper design.

Imitation Learning Multi-View Robot Learning Hardware
NavBot ROS

NavBot ROS — EKF & Particle Filter Robot

A two-wheel drive robot with Extended Kalman Filter and Particle Filter localization. Fuses wheel odometry, camera odometry, and LiDAR for robust pose estimation. Includes Docker workflow and SLAM-based map generation.

ROS 2 EKF Particle Filter SLAM Docker

Video Demonstrations

ATRON: Autonomous Trash Retrieval for Oceanic Neatness
Curb2Door: Automating Outdoor-to-Indoor Navigation
TPCMapping: Autonomous 3D Thermal Mapping
Particle Filter Demonstration
EKF Demonstration

View all videos on YouTube

Experience

Jun 2025 — Present

PhD Student

NYU Tandon School of Engineering — Electrical Engineering

Pursuing doctoral research in robotics and control.

Jan 2025 — May 2025

Lab Assistant & Manager

Advanced Manufacturing Workshop, NYUAD

Managed manufacturing equipment including 3D printers (Ultimaker, Bambu, Creality), laser cutters, and power tools. Supported students with course and extracurricular manufacturing projects.

Nov 2023 — Apr 2025

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR), NYUAD

Migrated Diablo Balance Robot simulation to ROS 2. Created 6-DOF Kinova arm simulation. Designed zero force control algorithms for base stabilization. Built the ATRON autonomous ocean cleanup vehicle.

May 2024 — Aug 2024

Summer Research Assistant

AI4CE Lab, NYU Tandon

Designed the Curb2Door handheld data collection system. Developed the Insta360 ROS driver. Created cross-platform GUI for sensor control. Performed LiDAR-camera calibration and 3D Gaussian Splatting data processing.

Feb 2023 — May 2023

Undergraduate Research Assistant

S.M.A.R.T. Construction Research Group, NYUAD

Integrated thermal camera, LiDAR, and pan-tilt mechanism on SUMMIT-XL robot for autonomous thermal mapping. First-author publication at ICRA 2023.

About

Education

  • PhD, Electrical Engineering — NYU Tandon (2025–2029)
  • BS, Mechanical Engineering — NYU Abu Dhabi (2021–2025)

Core Skills

  • ROS / ROS 2, Gazebo, Isaac Sim
  • Python, C++, SLAM (R3LIVE, gmapping)
  • Computer Vision, LiDAR Processing
  • 3D Printing, Laser Cutting, CAD (SolidWorks)
  • Docker, Git, Linux Systems
🏆

IEEE Student Day — 2nd Place, Senior Design Project

Dubai, May 2025 — Custom hardware and software pipelines for imitation learning with a novel lightweight high-force gripper design.

🏆

ADU-Mubadala Competition — 2nd Place, Autonomous Award

Abu Dhabi, Apr 2025 — Autonomous water surface vehicle for floating debris extraction using 360-camera, IMU, and 2D LiDAR with ROS 2.