vasileios balntas
robotics & machine learning · research consulting

machines that have to
work outside the lab.

I run ifestos.ai. Architecture, perception, motion, and the long work of getting a machine out of the lab.

imperial college london·previously meta reality labs research·scape technologies·university of oxford

[01] work

four areas, one discipline

Most engagements touch more than one, because robots rarely fail in only one place.

01

systems architecture

Sensor to compute to actuator. The decisions that are expensive to reverse, made early and made on purpose.

02

perception

Vision, sensor fusion and learned models. Turning raw signal into something a machine can act on without guessing.

03

motion & control

Planning, trajectory optimisation and control for machines moving through a world that does not hold still.

04

into production

The distance between a prototype that works in the lab and a fleet that works in the field: integration, calibration, test, deploy.

[02] approach

how we work

A small core, with specialists from adjacent engineering disciplines brought in when a problem calls for them.

01

read the machine first

Before proposing anything we characterise what already exists — the hardware, the data, the failure modes. Most robotics problems are misdiagnosed before they are mis-solved.

02

build the smallest honest thing

A narrow system that genuinely works beats a broad one that demos. We aim for something measurable in the real environment, early.

03

bring in the right discipline

Robotics problems rarely stay inside one discipline. When a project needs mechanical, electrical or controls engineering, we bring in collaborators who do that work properly rather than improvising it.

04

leave it maintainable

The engagement ends, the system does not. Code, documentation and the reasoning behind each decision are handed over, so your team owns it outright.

[03] who

vasileios balntas

I run ifestos.ai. Before that I built perception and robotics systems at Meta Reality Labs Research, Scape Technologies and the University of Oxford.

now
honorary research associate — imperial college london
robotics research consulting — ifestos.ai
previously
senior research science manager — meta reality labs research
head of research — scape technologies
postdoctoral researcher — university of oxford
service
area chair, multiple outstanding reviewer awards — cvpr, iccv
young researcher travel award — cvpr 2017

[04] contact

tell us what you are building

A description of the machine and the problem is enough to start. We will tell you honestly whether we are the right fit for it.