Yvan Petillot

Yvan Petillot is a Professor of Robotics and Autonomous Systems at Heriot-Watt University, co-academic lead of the National Robotarium, and chair of Robotics at the Scottish Research Partnership in Engineering. His expertise spans marine robotics, autonomous systems, sensor fusion, and subsea domain control. He leads a £3M grant portfolio focused on marine robotics innovations, emphasizing multi-vehicle collaboration and AI-driven autonomy. Petillot co-founded SeeByte Ltd to translate academic research into commercial solutions and pioneered EU robotics competitions fostering talent.

His research emphasizes underwater robotics, including navigation, perception, and intervention in hazardous environments. Notable achievements include developing advanced underwater imaging techniques, reinforcement learning platforms (e.g., MarineGym), and frameworks for digital twins in teleoperation. He has received the Royal Society Industry Fellowship (2013) and was part of the 2022 Research Team of the Year award.

Key technical contributions include synthetic aperture sonar systems, underwater SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping), and control strategies for vehicle-manipulator systems. His work addresses challenges in autonomous exploration, environmental monitoring, and safe human-robot collaboration in marine and industrial settings.