Kavin M. Govindarajan

Robotics PhD @ University of Michigan | NSF Graduate Research Fellow

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I am a second year PhD student in Robotics at the University of Michigan. I am an NSF Graduate Research Fellow and am co-advised by Dr. Dimitra Panagou in the DASC Lab and Dr. Chris Vermillion in the CORE Lab. My research focuses on persistent planning and optimal control for renewably-powered robotic vehicles.

I was a Park Scholar at North Carolina State University, where I received a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and a B.S in Applied Mathematics. During my time at NCSU, I was involved with Liquid Rocketry Lab where I worked on developing the dynamic model and the guidance, navigation, and control aspects of a spaceshot liquid bipropellant rocket.

In my free time, I enjoy playing the piano and guitar, playing and watching sports, and cooking.

selected publications

  1. 2025-fusedindirectmethods-soc_constraint_subplot.png
    Fusion of Indirect Methods and Iterative Learning for Persistent Velocity Trajectory Optimization of a Sustainably Powered Autonomous Surface Vessel
    Kavin Govindarajan, Devansh Agrawal, Dimitra Panagou, and 1 more author
    In (Accepted) 2025 Conference on Control Technology and Applications (CCTA), 2025
  2. soc_v_time.png
    Predictive Velocity Trajectory Control for a Persistently Operating Solar-Powered Autonomous Surface Vessel
    Kavin Govindarajan, Ben Haydon, and Chris Vermillion
    In 2023 American Control Conference (ACC), 2023
  3. persistentCoverage.gif
    Coverage-Maximizing Solar-Powered Autonomous Surface Vehicle Control for Persistent Gulf Stream Observation
    Kavin Govindarajan, Ben Haydon, Kirti Mishra, and 1 more author
    In 2022 American Control Conference (ACC), 2022