Hi, I'm Kaito 👋

I'm currently a Master's student in Robotics and Autonomous Systems at ASU (Arizona State University). I enjoy working across hardware and software, and I like learning by building and experimenting. Outside of robotics, I enjoy running, playing soccer or pickleball, or watching Formula 1 races 🏎️

Kaito Namatame headshot

Education

Arizona State University

Apr. 2024 - May. 2026

M.S. in Robotics & Autonomous Systems

Research Theme: LLM Generated Parametric Bias for VLA

GPA: 3.85 / 4.0

Takushoku University

Apr. 2020 - Mar. 2024

B.S. in Mechanical Engineering

Research Theme: Development of Ant-like Hexapod Robot

GPA: 3.29 / 4.0

Projects

Hexapod Robot Demo

Development of Ant-like Hexapod Robot

Code
  • Designed and built a six-legged walking robot inspired by ant locomotion, with 3 DOF per leg.
  • Developed control algorithms utilizing both forward kinematics and inverse kinematics for leg movements.
  • Experimented with various gait patterns and analyzed performance in terms of speed, distance, and stability.
Robotics Kinematics Embedded C++ CAD
Semantic Point Cloud Demo

Semantic 3D Point Cloud Mapping

Code
  • Developed a semantic 3D point cloud by integrating 3D point clouds from ORB-SLAM3 with semantic segmentation masks.
  • Labeled each point with corresponding semantic categories (U-Net + VGG16), enhancing geometric information.
  • Demonstrated improved performance compared to using semantic segmentation or ORB-SLAM3 alone.
Python PyTorch ORB-SLAM3 U-Net 3D Perception
LLM-Guided Modulation

LLM-Guided Modulation for Failure Recovery in VLA

Ongoing Research
  • Proposed a failure recovery framework for Vision-Language-Action models by modulating diffusion-based action using FiLM.
  • Fed previous actions and their corresponding rewards back to an LLM to analyze failure contexts and generate corrective FiLM coefficients.
  • Enabled adaptive correction of action distributions, transforming failed executions into successful behaviors.
Python PyTorch Diffusion Models FiLM Vision-Language-Action LLM Mujoco
ORB-SLAM3 Demo

Autonomous Drone for Geological Mapping and Landing

Code
  • Developed a ROS2 node for autonomous survey using PX4 SITL and onboard RGB-D input.
  • Performed real-time environment mapping via ORB-SLAM and logged 3D terrain data for post-analysis.
  • Detected geological features and optimized landing maneuvers.
ROS2 PX4 Python Mapping
CartPole PPO Demo

Cart Pole Swing-Up Reinforcement Learning

Code
  • Developed a reinforcement learning controller for the Cart-Pole swing-up task, achieving upright balance while keeping the cart near the center.
  • Used Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) to control a nonlinear, underactuated system with continuous actions.
  • Demonstrated that reinforcement learning effectively learns both swing-up and balance control behaviors.
Genesis ROS2 Python Reinforcement Learning
Grid World Q-Learning Demo

Grid World Q-Learning

Code
  • Implemented a Q-learning–based agent for the 3×4 Gridworld problem to learn an optimal policy.
  • Modeled a stochastic environment with probabilistic action outcomes, including goal, losing, and wall states.
  • Tracked training performance and learning dynamics using Weights & Biases (W&B).
Q-Learning W&B Python Reinforcement Learning
Coordinated Frontier Demo

Coordinated Frontier-Based Multi-Robot

Code
  • Implemented a coordinated frontier-based exploration strategy for multi-robot systems in MATLAB using occupancy grid mapping and lidar sensing.
  • Designed a shared exploration architecture with frontier detection, distributed goal selection, A* path planning, and conflict-free frontier reservation.
  • Analyzed performance across 2, 3, and 4-robot teams through simulations.
MATLAB Mulit Robotics Path Planning Frontier-Based Exploration

Skills

Experience across robotics software, control and learning-based methods, simulation, and hardware prototyping.
Python
Python
ROS2 ROS2
MATLAB logo MATLAB
Simulink
Simulink
Arduino
Arduino
Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi
Gazebo
Gazebo
PyTorch
PyTorch
Linux
Linux
Windows
Windows
Git
Git
W&B
W&B
Fusion360
Fusion360
SolidWorks
SolidWorks

Contact