Soughtout Chijioke Joseph

Research

My research focuses on multi-agent UAV coordination and navigation, using PX4 SITL, Gazebo, and MAVSDK to simulate and fly autonomous drone swarms. More broadly, I'm interested in robotics, AI/ML, and humanoid systems, and how intelligent autonomy translates across different platforms — from swarms of drones to legged and humanoid robots. I'm currently working on two threads: a co-authored paper (submitted to AIAA SciTech 2026) proposing a unified closed-loop navigation framework for UAVs that integrates alternative navigation methods, energy-aware path planning, return-to-home capabilities, and regulatory compliance; and a first-author paper, "Multi-Drone Autonomous Flight Simulation in ROS 2" (targeting AIAA SciTech 2027), on uncertainty-aware multi-agent task allocation, extending classical assignment algorithms with uncertainty propagation for real-world drone task planning. I work under Dr. Liang Sun in the AVIA Lab (Advanced Vehicle Intelligence and Autonomy Lab).

Publications

• Prell, R., Rubio, R., Joseph, S., Negash, N., & Sun, L. (2026). A Decision-Making Framework for Autonomous Aerial Vehicles in Responding to GPS Loss. In Proceedings of the AIAA SciTech Forum 2026, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. DOI: 10.2514/6.2026-1992

Bio & Hobbies

I’m passionate about robotics, AI, and embedded systems, and I enjoy exploring how intelligent drones and robots can adapt to dynamic environments. Outside of research, I love being creative, traveling nationally and internationally, meeting new people, dancing, dressing up, pursuing tech innovation, and photography.