Yashwanth Kumar Nakka
Dr. Yashwanth Nakka is the director of the Aerospace Robotics Laboratory at Georgia Tech. His research interests broadly include designing aerospace autonomous systems, spacecraft autonomy, planning (guidance) under uncertainty, and nonlinear dynamics and control. Earlier, he was a Robotics Technologist (2021-2024) at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he led the research and development planning, controls, and estimation tasks on CADRE, EELS, and DARPA LINC. He received a B. Tech. in aerospace engineering from the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, India, in 2011, an M. Sc. degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA, in 2016, and an M. Sc. degree and a Ph.D. in space engineering from California Institute of Technology, CA, USA, in 2017, and 2021, respectively. He was an engineer for the GSAT-15 and 16 missions at the Indian Space Research Organization from 2011 to 2014. He received the JPL CADRE Team Award for his work on multi-agent autonomy. He won the best student paper award at the 2021 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Guidance, Navigation, and Controls conference and the best paper award at the 11th International Workshop on Satellite Constellations and Formation Flying.
Professor Nakka's teaching interests encompass foundational and advanced courses in algorithm and system development for autonomous aerospace systems, focusing on motion planning (guidance), nonlinear control under uncertainty. He is committed to enhancing student learning through a combination of theoretical instruction and practical applications through robotic systems development for space exploration. His teaching philosophy emphasizes engaging both undergraduate and graduate students in problem-solving and critical thinking to prepare them for challenges in aerospace engineering.
Professor Nakka's research broadly focuses on designing aerospace autonomous systems, spacecraft autonomy, planning (guidance) under uncertainty, and nonlinear dynamics and control.
At the heart of his work is a fundamental question: How can robotic systems make intelligent decisions in the face of uncertainty, while ensuring safety, robustness, and mission success? To answer this, we develop advanced approaches to formulate and solve information-cost stochastic optimal control problems. We rely on theories from nonlinear control, distributional robustness, convex optimization, and probability theory.
- Ph.D. in Space Engineering - California Institute of Technology 2017 - 2021
- M.S. in Space Engineering - California Institute of Technology 2016-2017
- M.S. in Aerospace Engineering - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 2014-2016
- B.Tech in Aerospace Engineering - Indian Institute of Space Science Technology 2007 - 2011
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory CADRE Team Award, 2024
- Best Student Paper Award at AIAA Guidance, Navigation and Control Conference, 2021
- David and Catherine Thompson Graduate Fellowship Fund for Space, 2020
- Best Paper Award at 11th International Workshop on Satellite Constellations and Formation Flying, 2019
- Keck Institute of Space Studies Affiliate, 2019
- Excellent Reviewer Nomination, Journal of Guidance Control and Dynamics, 2018
- Darryl G. Greenmayer Fellowship Recipient, 2016
- Outstanding Performance Award, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), 2012 and 2013
- Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Scholarship Recipient, 2007 - 2011
- Akshita Gupta, Arna Bhardwaj, Nakka, Yashwanth Kumar, Changrak Choi, and Amir Rahmani. Information-driven fault detection and identification for multi-agent spacecraft systems: Collaborative on-orbit inspection mission. In Hever Moncayo, editor, Advances in Intelligent Fault-Tolerant Aerospace Systems & Applications (Accepted), chapter XX, pages pp. XXX–XXX. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Reston, VA, USA, 2025. Section: Intelligent Health Monitoring,
- Tsukamoto, Hiroyasu, Soon-Jo Chung, Yashwanth Kumar Nakka, Benjamin Donitz, Declan Mages, and Michel Ingham. "Neural-Rendezvous: Provably Robust Guidance and Control to Encounter Interstellar Objects." Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics 47, no. 12 (2024): 2525-2543.
- Vaquero, Tiago Stegun, Guglielmo Daddi, Rohan Thakker, Michael Paton, A. Jasour, Marlin P. Strub, R. Michael Swan et al. "EELS: Autonomous snake-like robot with task and motion planning capabilities for ice world exploration." Science robotics 9, no. 88 (2024): eadh8332.
- de la Croix, Jean-Pierre, Federico Rossi, Roland Brockers, Dustin Aguilar, Keenan Albee, Elizabeth Boroson, Abhishek Cauligi et al. "Multi-agent autonomy for space exploration on the cadre lunar technology demonstration." In 2024 IEEE Aerospace Conference, pp. 1-14. IEEE, 2024.
- Thakker, Rohan, Michael Paton, Bryson Jones, Guglielmo Daddi, Rob Royce, Michael Swan, Marlin Strub et al. "To boldly go where no robots have gone before–part 4: Neo autonomy for robustly exploring unknown, extreme environments with versatile robots." In AIAA SCITECH 2024 Forum, p. 1747. 2024.