Autonomous Robotic Surface Inspection
An end-to-end inspection workflow that gave a UR5e the ability to locate a work area, position an RGB-D camera, detect surface defects, and turn visual evidence into physical measurements.
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I work where machines
learn to perceive.
I’m Samkit Parak, a mechanical engineering student connecting robotics, autonomous systems and computer vision with the real constraints of manufacturing.
Current focus
Fourth-semester B.Sc. Mechanical Engineering (International) at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.
Developing in KA-RaceIng’s autonomous systems environment, with a growing focus on SLAM, localisation and vehicle perception.
Bringing recent robotic inspection experience into the next role in robotics, automation or industrial AI.
Selected work
Systems, not demos.
Work shaped by coordinates, sensors, moving hardware and the operational question behind the technology.
Formula Student Autonomous Systems
Ongoing work inside KA-RaceIng’s driverless environment, studying how perception, mapping and localisation become dependable vehicle behaviour under real-time constraints.
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HIVE OS — Industrial Operations Intelligence
A manufacturing operations system I built for HAEEV, a custom woodworking factory in India—connecting machine evidence, production flow and governed decision support in one deployable platform.
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Experimental Model Rocketry
A formative project in designing, building and testing model rockets—an early lesson in learning by making, measuring and revising physical systems.
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Experience
Learning across the stack.
From product design and data pipelines to robots that reason about the physical world.
Jan 2026 — now
Autonomous Systems · KA-RaceIng
Formula Student Driverless · Karlsruhe
Working in the autonomous systems environment around SLAM, perception, localisation and the way real-time software connects to vehicle behaviour. The role is evolving as I build deeper system context.
Apr 2025 — Jul 2026
Student Assistant · wbk Institute for Production Science
SFB 1574, Project B01 · KIT
Developed an autonomous robotic inspection workflow around a UR5e and an end-effector-mounted RGB-D camera. My focus spanned ROS 2 integration, TF2 geometry, object detection, depth analysis and system-level debugging. The role concluded when the project’s available budget ended.
May — Aug 2023
Research Intern · K-Lite Industries
Product design · Chennai
Designed lighting fixture components in Fusion 360 and PTC Creo, worked with design-for-manufacturing constraints, and supported thermal analysis, prototyping and quality testing.
Jun — Dec 2022
Data Engineering Intern · Minfy Technologies
Python and data systems · Hyderabad
Built Python workflows for processing and validating cloud datasets. The experience gave me an early understanding of how small data-quality problems compound inside larger systems.
Capabilities
Tools in context.
No proficiency meters—just the technologies I’ve used and the engineering context that gives them meaning.
Robotics & autonomy
Applied through robotic inspection and autonomous racing.
- ROS 2
- TF2
- SLAM
- MoveIt 2
- Sensor integration
- UR5e
- Motion planning
- Robot perception
Computer vision & AI
Used to connect images and depth data to physical decisions.
- YOLOv8
- OpenCV
- RGB-D perception
- Object detection
- Depth sensing
- Model training
- Dataset labelling
- PyTorch
Programming & integration
The practical layer that holds multidisciplinary systems together.
- Python
- C++
- Git
- Linux
- REST APIs
- MQTT
- URDF / Xacro
- Testing & debugging
Mechanical & production
Grounding software decisions in the realities of machines and factories.
- Manufacturing systems
- Production science
- Industrial automation
- CAD & DFM
- Industry 4.0
- Digital twins
- MES concepts
- OEE concepts
The bigger picture
Useful intelligence
for the factory floor.
Long term, I want to help small and medium-sized manufacturers in India adopt industrial AI, computer vision and automation that solve concrete production problems.
That direction comes from real manufacturing context. My family’s experience spans woodworking and lighting production, with CNC machinery, a Siemens S7-controlled press and an industrial finishing line. It made the gap between impressive technology and usable technology impossible to ignore.
I’m interested in quality inspection, machine monitoring, traceability, predictive maintenance and production visibility—not because the vocabulary is fashionable, but because these systems can make smaller factories more capable, efficient and resilient.
Working principleStart with the production problem. Earn the complexity.
Community & leadership
Technology should widen access.
ThinkSTEAM Foundation
Co-founder
We worked with NGO partners, volunteers and schools to expand access to hands-on STEAM learning in rural communities—through mentoring, educational kits and laptops.
800+students reached
30government schools
48 hours for practical sustainability ideas.
Co-founded and led a global student hackathon that brought together more than 1,000 participants across two editions.
Engineering, education and responsible impact.
I’m interested in how technical ambition can coexist with sustainability, non-violence and responsible consumption.
About
Between two contexts.
Moving from India to Germany changed more than my location. It taught me to listen closely, ask better questions and get comfortable being new at something.
I’m learning German while studying and working in Karlsruhe. Outside engineering, I value long stretches of focused work, vegetarian food, the occasional chance to surf, and conversations that connect technical detail to a larger purpose.
The common thread is practical curiosity: understanding how machines, people and systems fit together—and building things whose value is visible in the real world.