Senior Scientist

Work Experience

• [2023 - present] - Senior Scientist
  • Munich Institute for Robotics and System Intelligence (MIRMI), TU Munich

• [2021 - 2022] - Group Lead Underwater Robotics
  • Institute of Mechanics and Ocean Engineering, TU Hamburg

• [2016 - 2021] - Research Associate
  • Institute of Mechanics and Ocean Engineering, TU Hamburg

Industry Research Internships

• AUDI AG - Advanced Driver Assistance Systems
• Lufthansa - Technik AG Innovation Management

Education

• PhD degree in Robotics and Control
  • Hamburg University of Technology, Germany
  • Title: Learning, localization, and control of hydrobatic micro underwater robots for autonomous field exploration in confined environments

• MBA degree in Technology Management
  • Northern Institute of Technology Management, Hamburg, Germany

• M.Sc. degree in Theoretical Mechanical Engineering
  • Hamburg University of Technology, Germany

• Visiting Scholar at University of California Berkeley, CA, USA

• B.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering
  • Hamburg University of Technology, Germany

1. F. Steinmetz, D.-A. Duecker, N. Sichert, C. Busse, E. Kreuzer, and B.-C. Renner. UWRange: an open ROS framework for simulating acoustic ranging and localization for underwater robots under realistic conditions. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Kyoto, Japan, 2022.
2. D.-A. Duecker. Learning, localization, and control of hydrobatic micro underwater robots for autonomous field exploration in confined environments. MuM Notes in Mechanics and Dynamics: 6, TU Hamburg, 2022.
3. D.-A. Duecker, B. Mersch, R. Hochdahl, and E. Kreuzer. Embedded Stochastic Field Exploration with Micro Diving Agents using Bayesian Optimization-Guided Tree-Search and GMRFs. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), virtual, 2021.
4. D.-A. Duecker, C. Horst, and E. Kreuzer. From Aerobatics to Hydrobatics: Embedded Agile Trajectory Tracking with Micro Underwater Robots. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), virtual, 2021.
5. T. Rueckwald, S. Druecker, D.-A. Duecker, and R. Seifried. Nonlinear system identification of a furuta pendulum using machine learning techniques. PAMM Proceedings in Applied Mathematics and Mechanics 2021, virtual, 2021.
6. J. Timke, M. Morlock, D.-A. Duecker, R. Seifried. Learning of a Basketball Free Throw With a Flexible Link Robot. International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (ASME 2021), virtual, 2021.
7. D.-A. Duecker, N. Bauschmann, T. Hansen, E. Kreuzer, and R. Seifried. Towards Micro Robot Hydrobatics: Vision-based Guidance, Navigation, and Control for Agile Underwater Vehicles in Confined Environments. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Las Vegas, USA, 2020. (IROS 2020 Best Entertainment and Amusement Paper Award)
8. S. Watson, D.-A. Duecker, and K. Groves. Localisation of Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) in Complex and Confined Environments: A Review. Sensors (Switzerland), 2020.
9. D.-A. Duecker, F. Steinmetz, E. Kreuzer, and C. Renner. Micro AUV Localization for agile Navigation with low-cost Acoustic Modems. IEEE/OES Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Symposium, St. Johns, Canada, 2020.
10. D.-A. Duecker, N. Bauschmann, T. Hansen, and E. Kreuzer. HippoCampus X – A hydrobatic open-source micro AUV for confined environments. IEEE/OES Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Symposium, St. Johns, Canada, 2020.
11. D.-A. Duecker, T. Hansen, and E. Kreuzer. RGB-D Camera-based Navigation for Autonomous Underwater Inspection using Low-Cost micro AUVs. IEEE/OES Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Symposium, St. Johns, Canada, 2020.
12. L. Dostal, A. Bespalko, and D.-A. Duecker. Experimental Study on Reinforcement Learningbased Control of an Energy Harvesting Acrobot. arXiv:2011.09246, 2020.
13. L. Dostal, H. Grossert, D.-A. Duecker, M. Grube, D. Kreuter, K. Sandmann, B. Zillmann, and R. Seifried. Predictability of vibration loads from experimental data by means of reduced vehicle models and machine learning. IEEE Access, 2020.
14. D.-A. Duecker, K. Eusemann, and E. Kreuzer. Towards an Open-Source Micro-Robot Oceanarium: A Low-Cost, Modular, and Mobile Underwater Motion-Capture System. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Macau, China, 2019.
15. D.-A. Duecker, T. Johannink, E. Kreuzer, V. Rausch, and E. Solowjow. An Integrated Approach to Navigation and Control in Micro Underwater Robotics. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Montréal, Canada, 2019.
16. D.-A. Duecker, A. R. Geist, E. Kreuzer, and E. Solowjow. Learning Environmental Field Exploration with Computationally Constrained Underwater Robots: Gaussian Processes Meet Stochastic Optimal Control. Sensors (Switzerland), 2019.
17. C. Cyr, L. Dostal, and D.-A. Duecker. Towards Reinforcement Learning-based Control of an Energy Harvesting Pendulum. European Control Conference (ECC), Naples, Italy, 2019.
18. D.-A. Duecker, A. Hackbarth, T. Johannink, E. Kreuzer, and E. Solowjow. Micro Underwater Vehicle Hydrobatics: A Submerged Furuta Pendulum. In IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Brisbane, Australia, 2018.
19. G. Brinkmann, W.M. Bessa, D.-A. Duecker, E. Kreuzer, and E. Solowjow. Reinforcement Learning of Depth Stabilization with a Micro Diving Agent. In IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Brisbane, Australia, 2018.
20. W.M. Bessa, G. Brinkmann, D.-A. Duecker, E. Kreuzer, and E. Solowjow. A Biologically Inspired Framework for the Intelligent Control of Mechatronic Systems and its Application to a Micro Diving Agent, Mathematical Problems in Engineering, vol. 2018, 2018.
21. D.-A. Duecker, E. Kreuzer, G. Maerker, and E. Solowjow. Parameter Identification for Micro Underwater Vehicles. PAMM Proceedings in Applied Mathematics and Mechanics 2018, Munich, Germany, 2018.
22. S. Otto, A. Schmitt, D.-A. Duecker, and R. Seifried: Teaching Vision-based Control for Autonomous Driving with Lego Mindstorms EV3, Raspberry Pi and Simulink, PAMM Proceedings in Applied Mathematics and Mechanics 2018, Munich, Germany, 2018.
23. A. D. Buchan, E. Solowjow, D.-A. Duecker, and E. Kreuzer. Low-Cost Monocular Localization with Active Markers for Micro Autonomous Underwater Vehicles. In IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Vancouver, Canada, 2017.
24. D.-A. Duecker, A.R. Geist, M. Hengeler, E. Kreuzer, M.-A. Pick, V. Rausch, and E. Solowjow. Embedded Spherical Localization for Micro Underwater Vehicles based on Attenuation of Electro-Magnetic Carrier Signals. In Sensors (Switzerland), 2017.

• "TU Hamburg Partnerships and DAAD Exchange Programs with UC Berkeley and U Waterloo"
  • Deputy Coordinator for Inbound/Outbound-Exchange, and Contracts

• "Roboquarium  - a free space for student research"
  • Project Lead

• "Into the wild - Exploration of Hazardous Environments with Micro Underwater Robots"
  • Principal Investigator

• Releasing Robots into the Wild
• Data-driven Approaches to Environmental Exploration and Monitoring
• Guidance, Navigation, and Control for Mobile Robots