Sofía Aranda Rocha

Sofia is a Ph.D. student in Mechanical Engineering at Baylor University. She holds dual Bachelor's degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanical Engineering from New Mexico State University and a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Baylor University. Her research focuses on autonomous UAV navigation, energy-aware path planning, and deep reinforcement learning for aerospace applications. Her current work focuses on developing energy-efficient, wind-aware navigation strategies that leverage machine learning and environmental information to enhance the autonomy, endurance, and performance of multicopter UAVs in complex atmospheric conditions.

Publications:

• Aranda Rocha, S., & Sun, L. (2026). Generalized 3D Energy-Aware Path Planning Under Dynamic Turbulent Wind Conditions. In AIAA AVIATION 2026 Forum (p. 4636). https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2026-4636
• Aranda Rocha, S., Negash, N., & Sun, L. (2026). Deep Reinforcement Learning for Energy-Aware Path Planning of Multicopters in 3D Dynamic Environments. In AIAA SCITECH 2026 Forum (p. 1589). https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2026-1589
• S. A. Rocha, N. M. Negash and L. Sun, "Energy-Efficient Path Planning for Multicopters in Dynamic Wind Conditions Through Deep Reinforcement Learning," 2025 AIAA DATC/IEEE 44th Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC), Montreal, QC, Canada, 2025, pp. 1-10, DOI: 10.1109/DASC66011.2025.11257248
• Aranda Rocha, S., & Sun, L. (2025). Energy-Efficient Control for Multicopters in the Presence of Wind for Advanced Air Mobility. In AIAA SCITECH 2025 Forum (p. 2281). https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2025-2281