Shlok Agarwal

Head of Controls & Behaviors @ Ghost Robotics
📧 email , 🔗 linkedin ,📍 Newark, NJ | Philadelphia, PA
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Professional Summary

Head of Controls & Behaviors with 10+ years of specialized experience in legged robotics, manipulation, dynamics, control, and autonomous systems. Leads the controls group at Ghost Robotics, setting the multi-year technical roadmap across controls, state estimation, perception, and reinforcement-learning-augmented behaviors for the Vision series platform. Proven track record in leading technical teams, publishing research, filing patents, and delivering innovative control algorithms for complex robotic platforms deployed on 1,000+ robots worldwide.

Experience

Ghost Robotics, Philadelphia, PA · 2018 – Present

Lead Controls Software Engineer · Jan 2025 – Present

  • Lead low-level software development and arm behavior systems for quadruped robots
  • Direct software release planning, testing, and high-priority customer support resolution
  • Develop advanced manipulation behaviors including door opening and payload management
  • Enhanced joint-level torque safety algorithms for improved operational reliability

Senior Controls & Behavior Engineer · Mar 2021 – Nov 2024

  • Led development of blind gait strategies and auto-transition behaviors for steep inclines
  • Built proprioceptive force observer for contact detection and whole-body control integration
  • Maintained recovery controller and self-righting behaviors with continuous performance improvements
  • Represented company in high-stakes defense demos and international deployments
  • Integrated arm control stack for door opening, manipulation, and teleoperated missions
  • Provided hands-on support to major clients including US Air Force and Australian Army
  • Coordinated logistics for strategic visits to India, contributing to 100-robot orders

Controls & Behavior Engineer · Jun 2018 – Mar 2021

  • Designed and implemented robust self-righting algorithms across various fall configurations
  • Developed early proprioceptive gait algorithms for stairs, hills, curbs, and slippery terrains
  • Created blind reflexes and terrain-agnostic locomotion for obstacle courses
  • Contributed to optimization-based stance control and Cartesian swing trajectory modules
  • Participated in robot assembly, repair, field testing, and QA for Vision series deployments
  • Supported initial field deployments across multiple terrains and use cases

Institute of Human and Machine Congition(IHMC), Pensacola, FL · Jun 2017 – Nov 2017

Robotics Software Intern

  • Developed equivalent mechanical model of MinaV2 exoskeleton system
  • Analyzed human-exoskeleton dynamics for balance and locomotion assistance
  • Contributed to research published in Frontiers in Neurorobotics (52+ citations)

Sirena Technologies, Bangalore, India · Sep 2014 – Aug 2016

Design Engineer, Mechatronics

  • Designed structural CAD model for 16-DOF humanoid robot “Nino”
  • Formulated ZMP-based walking controller for stable bipedal locomotion
  • Managed design, analysis, vendor relationships, and procurement for actuators and components

Education

Master of Science in Robotics Engineering

Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Worcester, MA | 2016-2018

  • GPA: 3.8/4.0
  • Thesis: “Study of Toe Joints to Enhance Locomotion of Legged Systems”
  • Coursework: Robot Dynamics, Control Systems, Machine Learning, Computer Vision

Bachelor of Technology in Mechatronics

Manipal Institute of Technology | Manipal, India | 2010-2014

  • GPA: 3.6/4.0
  • Focus: Robotics, Automation Engineering, Control Systems
  • Activities: Institute of Engineers Mechatronics

Journal Publications

Stability of mina v2 for robot-assisted balance and locomotion C Mummolo, WZ Peng, S Agarwal, R Griffin, PD Neuhaus, JH Kim
Frontiers in Neurorobotics, 2018

Transportable open-source application program interface and user interface for generic humanoids: TOUGH V Jagtap, S Agarwal, A Wagh, M Gennert
International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems, 2020

Conference Papers

Study of toe joints to enhance locomotion of humanoid robots
S Agarwal, M Popovic
2018 IEEE-RAS 18th International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids)

Extended State Machines for Robust Robot Performance in Complex Tasks
V Jagtap, S Agarwal, S Nirmal, S Kejriwal, MA Gennert
2018 IEEE-RAS 18th International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids)

Design and fabrication of twinrotor UAV
S Agarwal, A Mohan, K Kumar
Computer Science & Information Technology (CS & IT), 2013

Mathematical Modeling and Control System Design of Tiltrotor UAV
S Agarwal, A Mohan, K Kumar
International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, 2013

Patents

System and method for proprioceptive and responsive robotic door opening
S Agarwal, Avik DE
US Patent WO2025042812A1, 2025

Professional Activities

Editorial & Review Service

  • Associate Editor: IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (2025)
  • Associate Editor: 2026 IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation (2026)
  • Technical Program Committee: IEEE International Conference on Advanced Robotics and Social Impacts (2025)
  • Peer Reviewer: IEEE T-CST, IEEE RA-L, IROS, CDC, MECC, ACM CHI (2022-2026)

Professional Memberships

  • IEEE Senior Member (2023-present)
  • Marquis Who’s Who Honored Listee (2024-2029)

Conference Participation

  • Dynamic Walking 2024, ICRA 2023, IEEE Humanoids 2018, Dynamic Walking 2018
  • NASA Space Robotics Challenge Finalist (2017)

Key Achievements

  • Leadership: Promoted to Lead Controls Software role, managing technical teams and software releases.
  • Innovation: Filed patent for proprioceptive door opening system with real-world deployment
  • Global Impact: Coordinated robot deployments across US, Australia, and India markets
  • Research Excellence: 93+ citations across 7 peer-reviewed publications
  • Technical Recognition: Achieved IEEE Senior Member status for contributions to robotics

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