Nate Biddle

Robotics software + validation engineer

Building reliable robot and XR systems across code, test, and release.

Software engineer and testing leader with 10+ years across XR, web, native platforms, autonomous systems, and system-level validation. M.Eng. in Robotics & Intelligent Autonomous Systems, focused on ROS 2, simulation, controls validation, automation, and CI/CD quality gates.

View Engineering Work Review Validation Depth Resume
Experience
10+ years
Degree
M.Eng. Robotics
Specialty
Integration + QA
Target identity Robotics software engineer
Professional advantage Validation, integration, and release quality
Stack range Robotics, XR, automation, web, native, CI/CD

Featured proof of concept

xArm Orin Vision-Gated Cube Grab

Embedded Linux robotics integration project using a Jetson Orin Nano, OpenCV color detection, ROI/confidence gating, and a Hiwonder xArm command layer to trigger a physical cube-grab primitive.

Platform
Jetson Orin Nano + xArm 1S
Vision
OpenCV red-cube detection gate
Validation
Trial logs, readback checks, tests
  • Physical hardware-in-the-loop execution against the arm.
  • USB HID/serial controller path with servo readback validation.
  • JSONL trial logging and HTML validation-report tooling.
View Case Study

Main body of work

Engineering and Validation Work

Jetson Orin / OpenCV / xArm

xArm Orin Vision-Gated Cube Grab

OpenCV vision gate on an Orin Nano triggers a physical xArm cube grab through Hiwonder controller commands, readback checks, and trial logging.

  • Orin Nano
  • OpenCV
  • Validation
Open full case study

ROS Gazebo / OpenCV / PID Control

Autonomous Lane Detection Vehicle

Simulated vehicle steered by a ROS Python PID controller using HSV masking, Canny edges, Hough lines, and vanishing-point error from a camera feed.

  • ROS
  • OpenCV
  • PID
Open full case study

Unity ML-Agents / PPO / Raycasts

RL Drone Obstacle Course

Quadcopter simulation trained with PPO, curriculum learning, behavioral cloning, GAIL, raycast observations, and randomized obstacle spawning.

  • Deep RL
  • Unity
  • ML-Agents
Open full case study

Unity ML-Agents / Zero-G / Imitation Learning

Space Robot Rendezvous

Zero-gravity servicing-robot simulation trained with PPO, BC, and GAIL to rendezvous with a moving satellite and perform a soft-touch end-effector contact.

  • Deep RL
  • Dynamics
  • Space Robotics
Open full case study

Professional edge

Engineering, QA, and Delivery Map

Robotics Software

ROS 2/ROS, simulation, robot kinematics, PID validation, control verification, and autonomous workflows.

System Validation

Functional, integration, system, and performance testing for hardware-software and real-time systems.

CI/CD and TestOps

Automation frameworks, GitLab CI/CD quality gates, Docker workflows, release validation, and traceability.

XR Systems

Meta Quest, Unity VR, therapeutic branching flows, voice recognition, device coverage, and performance analysis.

Full-Stack QA

Web, native, API, database, and cross-platform validation across SQL, MongoDB, and Azure Cosmos DB.

Release Leadership

JIRA, TestRail, root cause analysis, KPI metrics, defect lifecycle ownership, and release sign-off.

XR testing in health and wellness

Lead test architecture for therapeutic VR programs.

Professional Quest and Unity testing across health and wellness VR products where test quality protects therapeutic flow, session data cleanliness, user comfort, and release confidence.

Lead Test Architect + Test Engineer

Therapeutic XR programs shipped with repeatable evidence.

I led test strategy and hands-on testing for therapeutic and wellness VR experiences spanning branching paths, scripted interventions, voice-recognition flows, Quest device behavior, session persistence, clinician-facing data expectations, and performance budgets.

Programs
First Resort, Mind & Motion, MORE-VR, gameChangeVR Gen 2
Platforms
Meta Quest devices, Unity XR Simulator, headset/device matrix
Automation
Meta Quest Scriptable Testing Services, AutoDriver playback, Unity Test Framework, NUnit
Coverage
Manual suites, OVR Metrics Tool performance reports, security testing, regression, and defect triage

First Resort

CBT-based VR program testing for guided reflection, values, goals, and multi-week therapeutic progression.

Mind & Motion

Chronic-pain VR testing across movement, calming practices, patient safety, and session reporting.

First Resort

XRHealth describes First Resort as an 8-week CBT-based VR program for emotional well-being, patient reflection, values, goals, and thoughts-to-actions education.

Product guide

Mind & Motion

XRHealth frames Mind & Motion around chronic-pain support through gentle movement, calming practices, and patient education about how pain works in the brain and body.

Product guide

MORE-VR

MORE-VR applied mindfulness-oriented recovery enhancement in VR as an adjunct to medications for opioid use disorder, with session data, craving/affect measures, and safety considerations.

Phase 1 paper

gameChangeVR Gen 2

gameChange uses CBT-style VR interventions and a virtual therapist to help people with psychosis practice everyday social situations at their own pace.

Study overview

Therapeutic Flow Coverage

Branch-path matrices, intervention scripts, state transitions, onboarding, session resumption, failure recovery, and program progression rules.

Voice + Interaction Testing

Voice-recognition prompts, response handling, fallback paths, controller input, gaze selection, comfort boundaries, and timed therapeutic events.

Automation + Integration

Meta Quest Scriptable Testing Services for repeatable device setup, AutoDriver recordings and playback for E2E input coverage, XR Simulator test runs, Unity Test Framework coverage, NUnit assertions, unit tests, integration tests, and release regression suites.

Scriptable Testing AutoDriver

Session Data Integrity

Validation focused on patient assignment, session metadata, outcome capture, clean report generation, and preserving analyzable data for therapeutic efficacy work.

Manual Suite Design

Full manual test-suite definition for headset setup, first-run onboarding, accessibility, comfort, content progression, edge cases, retries, and cross-device release checks.

Performance + Security

OVR Metrics Tool passes using HUD and CSV report evidence for FPS, stale frames, screen tears, heat, throttling, CPU/GPU, memory, app GPU time, and custom metrics, plus security-minded testing around permissions, account/session behavior, platform services, and privacy-sensitive workflows.

OVR Metrics Tool

About

I build software, then make it observable, testable, and release-ready.

Robotics-focused engineer with a professional background in software engineering, SDET work, QA leadership, and system-level validation across XR, web, native, and simulation environments. My current emphasis is building robotics software and the automated evidence that proves it works.

Robotics Engineering

ROS 2/ROS, IsaacSim, OpenCV, kinematics, PID, autonomous systems, control validation.

QA and Validation

STLC, functional/integration/system/performance testing, JIRA, TestRail, RCA, KPI metrics.

Automation and CI/CD

Playwright, Cypress, Selenium, NUnit, GitLab CI/CD, Docker, Python, TypeScript, C#, C++.

XR and Full Stack

Meta Quest, Unity VR, therapeutic XR testing, web/native QA, APIs, SQL, MongoDB, Azure Cosmos DB.