Force-controlled 6-DOF robot
Ph.D. work on path planning and isotonic/isokinetic force control for an NIH-funded physical-therapy robot that physically interacts with people.
Humanoid Robotics · State Estimation · Control
Engineering
Intelligent Machines
I am Sinan Karahan, a robotics scientist and engineering leader. I build the sensing, state estimation, and control that humanoid and mobile robots need to perceive their own motion and act safely in the physical world, proven in production on iPhone, IMU chips, satellites, and autonomous trucks.
1stProduction 9-axis sensor fusion on iPhone
2 cmLocalization accuracy on autonomous trucks
4Issued U.S. patents in fusion & calibration
Humanoid RoboticsPhysical AIState EstimationSensor FusionWhole-Body ControlMotion PlanningLocalizationSensor Calibration
Humanoid RoboticsPhysical AIState EstimationSensor FusionWhole-Body ControlMotion PlanningLocalizationSensor Calibration
Humanoid robotics & Physical AI
From production autonomy to whole-body robots.
A humanoid has to solve the problems I have shipped solutions for: fusing imperfect sensors in real time, estimating its own state, calibrating hardware in the field, and controlling a physical system safely. The difference is the body, not the mathematics.
Already proven on robots
Surgical robotics
Kinematics, dynamics, and control for a robotic surgical catheter at Hansen Medical.
Industrial manipulation
Kinematics, dynamics, trajectory planning, and control for an articulated industrial robot at Carbon Robotics.
Mobile-robot navigation
Co-inventor of U.S. Patent 11,680,823 on sensor calibration for mobile-robot navigation; graduate robotics instructor at Santa Clara University.
01
Sensing
IMU, vision, LiDAR, joint sensing, force and tactile feedback.
02
State Estimation
Orientation, pose, velocity, bias, contact state, and probabilistic sensor fusion.
03
Robot Models
Kinematics, dynamics, calibration, coordinate frames, and physical constraints.
04
Planning & Control
Trajectory generation, model-based control, balance, disturbance rejection, and real-time execution.
Application domains
Robotics skills that transfer directly to humanoid systems.
Industrial & Manufacturing
Whole-body motion, manipulation, calibration, sensing, and safe operation around equipment and people.
Warehouse & Logistics
Navigation, perception, dynamic state estimation, manipulation, and robust operation in changing environments.
Service Robotics
Human-aware perception, motion planning, sensor fusion, and adaptive control for unstructured spaces.
Human–Robot Interaction
Motion understanding, force-aware control, sensing, and algorithms that connect physical behavior with human intent.
About
From mathematical foundations to systems that ship.
My work answers one question across many machines: where am I, how am I moving, and how do I act on that reliably? I have answered it for robots, phones, IMU chips, drones, satellites, passenger cars, and autonomous trucks, and humanoids are the machines where all of it comes together.
I specialize in sensor fusion, filtering and estimation, calibration, localization, robot kinematics and dynamics, motion planning, control, simulation, signal processing, optimization, and machine learning. I have repeatedly moved algorithms from concept and simulation into embedded, real-time, production environments.
Highlights include the first production 9-axis sensor fusion on iPhone, an algorithms organization of 12 Ph.D. and M.S. engineers at TDK InvenSense, a 20-engineer autonomous-driving team at XPeng, spacecraft GNC sensors at E-Space, and production localization for autonomous trucks at Gatik. I also taught graduate robotics at Santa Clara University.
Selected impact
Technologies brought from research into the real world.
Five domains that define the breadth of my work.
Consumer Electronics
Motion intelligence at product scale
Developed the first production 9-axis Kalman Filter sensor fusion system for iPhone and delivered embedded motion, calibration, and activity algorithms across multiple generations of sensor products, with 4 issued U.S. patents.
AppleTDK InvenSenseSensor Platforms
Autonomous Driving
Localization, perception, planning, and control
Led and developed multi-sensor systems using GNSS, IMU, LiDAR, radar, camera, and wheel odometry for autonomous vehicles, including production truck localization at 2 cm with RTK GNSS and 10 cm with degraded or no GNSS.
GatikXPengSF Motors (SERES)
Space & Aerospace
Navigation, control, and simulation beyond Earth
Directed spacecraft sensor and actuator development, modeled satellite dynamics and orbital systems, and contributed to NASA air-traffic optimization research.
E-SpaceNASA AmesOctant
Robotics
Machines that interact with people and the physical world
Designed kinematics, dynamics, control, trajectory planning, and force-based exercise algorithms for industrial, rehabilitation, animation, and medical robotics.
Research & Education
Teaching and advancing the mathematical core
Ph.D. research in nonlinear systems, graduate robotics instruction at Santa Clara University, and professional engagement through IEEE, ASME, Sigma Xi, and IFAC.
UC DavisSanta Clara UniversityIEEE
Technical expertise
Deep foundations. Production discipline.
Estimation & Sensor Fusion
- Kalman Filters
- Extended Kalman Filters
- Unscented Kalman Filters
- Particle Filters
- Bayesian Estimation
- Sensor Calibration
Robotics & Control
- Robot Kinematics
- Robot Dynamics
- Trajectory Planning
- Path Planning
- Feedback Control
- Model Predictive Control
Autonomous Systems
- Localization
- Navigation
- Perception
- Map Matching
- GNSS / IMU Integration
- LiDAR / Radar / Camera Fusion
Implementation & Simulation
- C / C++
- MATLAB / Simulink
- ROS / ROS 2
- Embedded Real-Time Systems
- Monte Carlo Simulation
- Hardware-in-the-Loop
OptimizationSignal ProcessingMachine LearningOpenCVMotion AlgorithmsAttitude EstimationOrbital DynamicsGNCSensor CharacterizationIndoor PositioningWi-Fi / Bluetooth BeaconsPedestrian Dead Reckoning
Career timeline
Engineering leadership across robotics, autonomy, sensing, and space systems.
Filter the timeline by domain, then open any role for a concise account of the work, technical focus, and impact.
2024 — Present
Autonomous systems · Localization
Gatik
Technical Lead, Mapping and Localization
Develops production localization and state-estimation systems, combining multiple sensing modalities in real-time software.
- Develops localization software using GNSS, IMU, LiDAR, camera, and wheel odometry.
- Met accuracy targets of 2 cm with RTK GNSS and 10 cm with degraded or no GNSS by adding LiDAR, camera, and wheel-odometry measurements to the production filter.
- Implemented out-of-sequence fusion for delayed sensor measurements, improving accuracy.
- Works across algorithm design, simulation, software implementation, testing, and vehicle integration.
2023 — 2024
Consulting · Estimation & GNC
Karahan Consulting
President
Advised clients on sensing, estimation, and control problems across autonomy, space, and AR/VR.
- Sensor fusion, sensor calibration, filtering, and estimation.
- Guidance, navigation, and control for space systems.
- Autonomous-driving and AR/VR motion-tracking systems.
2022 — 2023
Space systems · GNC
E-Space
Director, GNC Sensors & Actuators
Directed development and evaluation of spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control sensors and actuators.
- Selected, tested, and deployed the IMU, magnetometer, and GNSS sensors for a commercial communications satellite.
- Led sensor and actuator design activities supporting spacecraft GNC architecture.
- Applied estimation, calibration, simulation, and systems-engineering methods to space hardware.
- Connected component-level performance to vehicle-level navigation and control requirements.
2019 — 2022
Sensors · Embedded algorithms
TDK InvenSense
Director, Algorithms
Led algorithm development for motion sensing, sensor fusion, calibration, and embedded intelligent products.
- Directed an algorithms organization of 12 Ph.D. and M.S. engineers, including two managers.
- Directed teams developing production-grade motion and sensing algorithms.
- Advanced calibration and fusion methods for inertial and related sensors.
- Supported deployment from mathematical models through embedded implementation and validation.
2018 — 2019
Autonomous driving · Technical leadership
XPeng Motors
Principal Research Scientist, Autonomous Driving
Built and led an autonomous-driving research and engineering team spanning localization, perception, planning, control, and simulation.
- Technical lead for a multidisciplinary team of 20 engineers.
- Worked across the autonomous-driving stack, including localization, perception, planning, and control.
- Established technical direction for algorithm development, simulation, and vehicle integration.
2017 — 2018
Autonomous driving · Localization
SF Motors (SERES)
Lead Research Scientist, Autonomous Driving
Contributed estimation, sensor-fusion, localization, and navigation expertise to autonomous-vehicle development.
- Worked with inertial, satellite, vision, and vehicle sensing inputs.
- Applied probabilistic filtering and calibration methods to vehicle-state estimation.
- Developed MPC-based lane-change and lane-following planning, tested in simulation and on prototype vehicles.
2017
Industrial robotics · Control
Carbon Robotics
Director of Robotics and Algorithms
Directed robotics, control, planning, and system-integration work for advanced industrial robotic platforms.
- Led robot kinematics, dynamics, trajectory planning, and control development.
- Connected algorithm design with hardware behavior and production constraints.
- Applied simulation and optimization to system design and validation.
2016 — 2017
Aerial autonomy · Force sensing
Startup Engagements
Algorithm Lead · Nixie and NextInput
Short algorithm-lead engagements with two hardware startups.
- Nixie: camera/IMU navigation and hover-stabilization Kalman filters for a wearable autonomous-camera quadcopter, deployed on flight hardware.
- NextInput: nonlinear force-touch response-correction algorithms in C++, deployed on mobile hardware.
2012 — 2016
Motion sensing · Production algorithms
InvenSense
Principal Engineer and Director, Advanced Algorithms
Developed and led embedded sensor-fusion, calibration, and motion-algorithm work for consumer and mobile sensing products.
- Designed production motion-processing and calibration algorithms.
- Worked across inertial sensors, magnetometers, and multi-axis fusion.
- Built indoor positioning with particle filters, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth beacons, and pedestrian dead reckoning.
- Filed patents on calibration, orientation prediction, and low-power attitude generation; three issued as U.S. patents.
2010 — 2012
Consumer electronics · Motion intelligence
Apple
Research Scientist / Motion Algorithms Lead
Developed production motion and orientation algorithms for iPhone, including the first production 9-axis Kalman Filter sensor-fusion system.
- Developed 9-axis orientation estimation combining accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer data.
- Worked on compass calibration and motion-processing capabilities associated with CoreMotion.
- Moved algorithms from research and simulation into production mobile devices.
Earlier career
Robotics · Simulation · Education
Foundational Roles
Sensor Platforms, NASA Ames, Hansen Medical, Motion Factory, Santa Clara University, UC Davis, and others
Early work established the robotics, dynamics, control, simulation, and teaching foundations that informed later production systems.
- Principal Algorithm Scientist at Sensor Platforms: shipped Unscented Kalman-filter fusion in a handheld air mouse, plus context-awareness algorithms.
- Principal Research Scientist at NASA Ames Research Center: aerospace optimization and simulation research.
- Developed robotic surgical-catheter kinematics, dynamics, and control at Hansen Medical.
- Worked on character dynamics and physically based animation at Motion Factory.
- Taught graduate robotics at Santa Clara University.
- Completed Ph.D. research at UC Davis involving nonlinear systems and a NIH-funded 6-DOF physical-therapy robot.
- Held additional engineering and research roles spanning simulation, controls, semiconductor equipment, and intelligent systems.
No timeline entries match this filter.
Technical portfolio
Systems built where estimation meets reality.
Selected engineering programs organized by technical challenge rather than employer. Descriptions stay at a public, non-confidential level while showing the methods, system constraints, and leadership scope behind the work.
01
Production autonomy
Production Localization & State Estimation
Reliable vehicle-state estimation across real roads, imperfect sensors, and production constraints.
Challenge
Fuse complementary sensing modalities while maintaining accuracy, continuity, observability, and diagnosability in real time.
Approach
Probabilistic estimation using GNSS, IMU, LiDAR, cameras, and wheel odometry, supported by simulation, replay, testing, and vehicle integration.
Role
Technical leadership spanning algorithm architecture, software implementation, validation strategy, and cross-functional system integration.
GNSSIMULiDARCameraROS 2Kalman Filtering
02
Embedded intelligence
Production 9-axis motion estimation
Orientation and motion estimation combining accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer measurements in resource-constrained consumer devices.
Engineering focusCalibration, robustness, embedded implementation, validation, and production deployment.
9-Axis FusionCompass CalibrationCoreMotionEmbedded Algorithms
03
Space systems
Spacecraft GNC sensors and actuators
Sensor and actuator design viewed as part of a complete guidance, navigation, and control architecture.
Engineering focusPerformance modeling, characterization, calibration, estimation, simulation, and requirement flow-down.
GNCAttitude EstimationSensorsActuatorsSimulation
04
Robotic systems
Medical and rehabilitation robotics
Robotic mechanisms and control systems designed around human interaction, physical constraints, and safety.
Engineering focusKinematics, dynamics, nonlinear systems, force interaction, control, and a NIH-funded 6-DOF physical-therapy robot.
6-DOF RoboticsDynamicsControlHuman-Robot Interaction
05
Industrial robotics
Planning and control for robotic platforms
System-level development connecting mathematical models to physical robot behavior and product constraints.
Engineering focusKinematics, dynamics, trajectory generation, optimization, simulation, controls, and hardware integration.
Motion PlanningTrajectory GenerationOptimizationControl
06
Technical organization
Building multidisciplinary autonomy teams
Leadership across localization, perception, planning, control, simulation, and vehicle integration.
Engineering focusTechnical direction, architecture, hiring, mentoring, execution, and alignment between research and production.
LeadershipArchitectureSimulationVehicle Integration
Technology matrix
From mathematical model to deployed system.
Estimation
Kalman filters, nonlinear estimation, sensor fusion, calibration, state estimation, localization, attitude estimation
Robotics
Kinematics, dynamics, motion planning, trajectory generation, control, simulation, optimization
Sensing
IMU, GNSS, LiDAR, cameras, magnetometers, wheel odometry, force and touch sensors
Implementation
C++, Python, MATLAB/Simulink, ROS and ROS 2, Linux, embedded and real-time systems
Engineering philosophy
First principles. Measurable behavior. Production discipline.
I approach intelligent machines as complete systems: sensing, estimation, planning, control, software, hardware, and validation must reinforce one another.
Strong algorithms matter. Strong interfaces, observability, testability, and failure handling are what make them dependable.
Professional activities
Research, teaching, and technical community.
- Adjunct Professor of graduate robotics at Santa Clara University
- 4 issued U.S. patents in sensor fusion, attitude estimation, and calibration
- Industrial Vice Chair, IFAC Symposium on Nonlinear Control Systems (NOLCOS 2016)
- Member of IEEE, ASME, and Sigma Xi
- Research background spanning robotics, nonlinear systems, aerospace optimization, and sensor fusion
Selected references
Projects and organizations.
Contact
Let’s build the next intelligent system.
Open to Principal and Staff technical roles and Director / Head of engineering roles in humanoid and mobile robotics, autonomous systems, state estimation, and localization.
Two résumés: Technical for Principal / Staff roles, Leadership for Director / Head roles.
