Research Associate in Swarm Robotics
I received a degree in Electronics Engineering from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia, in 2014, a master's degree on Automation and Robotics from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain, in 2016, and a master's degree on Engineering and Industrial Automation from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia, in 2022. From 2017 to 2024, I enrolled in a PhD on Engineering and Technology at Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
I started my research activities in 2011 at Laboratorio de Propiedades Ópticas de los Materiales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia, under the supervision of Prof. Carlos Vargas Hernández. During this period, I worked on applied physics and I focused my research on the development of UV sensors.
In 2014, I joined the Robotics & Cybernetics group under the supervision of Prof. Antonio Barrientos Cruz, at the Centre for Automation and Robotics, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain. The same year, I also started as an intern in the Aerospace Systems and Control Section at SENER Engineering Group, Spain. My career as roboticist began during this period. At that time I focused my research on the guidance navigation and control of small unmanned ground vehicles, and on the development of strategies to coordinate groups of them.
In 2017, I joined the team of Prof. Mauro Birattari to investigate the design of collective behaviors for robot swarms via optimization.
Later, in 2024, I joined the team of Prof. Sabine Hauert to investigate the mechanisms for emergent awareness in robot collectives.
Since 2020, I am also an invited lecturer for robotics in the program Maestría en Ingeniería Electrónica, at Universidad de Nariño, Colombia.
Co-investigator. SOLE‑R: del aprendizaje social en insectos al aprendizaje social en enjambres de robots. Funded by Corporación Ecuatoriana
para el Desarrollo de la Investigación y Academia (CEDIA). Ecuador. Co‑investigator. 2025.
Co-principal investigator. QUPAS: robots modulares y económicos para la investigación en robótica colectiva. funded by Escuela Superior Politécnica
del Litoral (ESPOL). Ecuador. Co‑principal investigator. 2024–2026.
Co-investigator. Desarrollo de un laboratorio remoto y abierto en la línea de robótica de enjambres para la Universidad de Nariño. Funded by
Universidad de Nariño. Colombia. 2023–2025.
I am a Member of the IEEE, the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society and the IEEE Robotics & Automation Society.
In 2021, I joined the Sociedad de Doctores e Investigadores de Colombia (SoPhIC) as PhD Student Member.
Science Communication Award, granted by the Publicity Comitee of the 2022 IEEE International Conference on Automation and Robotics, ICRA 2022, Philadelphia, PA, USA, 2022.
Best Oral Presentation at 1er Congreso Internacional de la Sociedad de Doctores e Investigadores de Colombia (SoPhIC), Colombia, 2021.
First place in the DOTS swarm robotics competition, awarded by Bristol Robotics Laboratory, Toshiba Bristol Research and Innovation Laboratory, and the South Gloucestershire Council’s UMBRELLA project, United Kingdom, 2021.
Scholarship for PhD studies granted by the Colombian Administrative Department of Science, Technology and Innovation-Colciencias, Colombia, 2018. (program: Doctorados en el Exterior 2017)
Scholarship for master’s degree studies granted by SENER Foundation, Spain, 2014.
Best Thesis on Electronics Engineering awarded by Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia, 2014.
Best Theoretical Work at X National School of Condensed Matter Physics, Colombia, 2012.
Scholarship for Undergraduate Studies granted by Ecopetrol S.A., Colombia, 2009. (program: Mario Galan Gomez - Bachilleres por Colombia)
Academic Tuition Exemption granted by Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia, 2007.
Bristol Robotics Lab
T-Block, UWE Frenchay Campus
Bristol BS16 1QY
United Kingdom
Our recent paper in Communications Engineering, a journal of the Nature Portfolio
Automatic design of stigmergy-based behaviours for robot swarms