Jonathan Adoo

Currently in my final year studying Computer Engineering. I'm a Robotics Trainer at Mikrobot Academy and an open-source contributor - I've shipped projects like diff_drive_robot, a ROS 2 Jazzy + Gazebo Harmonic simulation with SLAM and Nav2 used by developers worldwide, and so101_ros2, a full control stack for the SO-101 robot arm with MoveIt, ros2_control, and Gazebo sim.

Today I'm focused on making robotics software more accessible - from simulation and navigation to manipulation - and sharing what I learn through technical writing and open source. If you're working on something interesting, get in touch.

My path into robotics started early - tinkering with kits and competitions in grade school, then diving deeper through university labs and personal projects. During my bachelor's degree, robotics peaked for me. I studied the mathematics and physics of robotics, and I developed a deep understanding of the principles of control, estimation, and decision-making.

I write about robotics on Hashnode, maintain open-source ROS 2 packages and templates for the community, and contribute to projects.

Jonathan Adoo in a robotics workshop

Projects

diff_drive_robot

Differential drive robot simulation in Gazebo Harmonic
SLAM mapping visualization in RViz

A complete ROS 2 Jazzy simulation stack for differential drive robots in Gazebo Harmonic — URDF, lidar integration, keyboard tele-op, and launch files to get a simulated robot running out of the box. The mapping branch adds SLAM Toolbox, EKF-based sensor fusion, and RViz visualization for building maps from live laser scans.

The package has been starred by developers and robotics students worldwide as a starting point for learning autonomous navigation. I'm extending it with Nav2 integration and additional sensors for full-stack navigation tutorials.

2024

Links

so101_ros2

SO-101 follower arm in Gazebo simulation
SO-101 RViz visualization

A ROS 2 Jazzy stack for the SO-101 robot arm — URDF and meshes, RViz visualization, ros2_control in Gazebo Harmonic, and trajectory control for the arm and gripper in simulation. Includes a pick-and-place world and convenience launch files to go from description to simulated manipulation.

MoveIt 2 motion planning and a hardware interface for the real arm are on the roadmap. The stack is designed to integrate with the broader LeRobot ecosystem for manipulation research and imitation learning.

2026

Links

Self-Driving RC Car

Self-driving RC car
Self-driving RC car demo

A self-driving RC car with an LiDAR sensor, Intel RealSense D435i and an NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano. The car is capable of mapping the environment and driving autonomously with Planning and Control algorithms(PID).

This was for the World Robotics Olympiad 2025 in Ghana. The car was able to navigate through the environment and avoid obstacles autonomously.

2025

Links

Blogs and Publications

Last updated: June 2026