About

Hi there! This is the personal website of Brandon Castellano (sometimes known as Breakthrough). Here, you can find my blog, technical articles, and various projects (software & hardware) I’m working on.

As for my background, I hold a B.E.Sc in Electrical Engineering, with the majority of my professional experience in the areas of robotics and real-time control systems. I’m “fluent” in a wide variety of programming languages, my favourites being C++, Python, and C# (although I’ve worked with Assembly, C, PHP, and Go). For the curious, I’m both a Windows and Linux user (with Xubuntu being my desktop distribution of choice at the moment, and Debian-based for embedded ARM systems).

Below you can find a list of my professional/academic experience, some of my accounts across the web, and methods to contact me.

Portrait of Me

My Background & Experience

Education

I hold a B.E.Sc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Western Ontario. The focus of my studies was real-time and embedded control systems, with significant overlap in the areas of computer engineering and computer science. I also have experience taking post-graduate courses in parallel processing and GPGPU optimization, having applied these skills to real-world robotic systems, mainly focused on using image processing for object and pose recognition.

Employers and Start-ups

The following is a list of companies I have worked for in the past, or have been on professional terms with, in no particular order:

  • Eagle Vision Systems

    • Engineering Manager, Product Development
      • Design and implementation of a system to allow automated waste/recycling collection for vehicles with external hydraulic arms
      • Assigned/authored patent (see below) for overall process, with real-world testing being performed currently
      • Technologies used include C++, Python, OpenCV, SDL/OpenGL, CAN/Serial interfaces to sensor and hydraulic controllers, USB CMOS cameras, a Linux-based operating system, and the Nvidia Jetson platform for future GPGPU acceleration, along with a physical touchscreen display for operator feedback and system monitoring

  • University of Western Ontario

    • Research Assistant, Robotic Mushroom Farming
      • Tasked with development of the stereoscopic/3D camera hardware required for generating a depth map of mushrooms farm
      • Depth map used to resolve/estimate location, size, and pose of individual mushrooms, to be harvested by a robotic manipulator
    • Teaching Assistant, Software Engineering SE2250: Software Construction
      • Helped students during lab hours with course fundamentals, and graded projects, tests, and exams
      • Involved teaching of Git, C++, and Qt, and other utilities to demonstrate Linux-based development using command-line tools
      • Final project involved building an interactive Puzzle Bobble-like game utilizing path planning and collision detection

  • Ontario Power Generation

    • Market Operations, Portfolio Management
      • Tasked with creating an extensive reporting tool to determine the costs incurred when using generators to provide voltage support, as well as optimize the operation of the generator facilities for a significant saving in costs
      • Performed weekly audit of hydroelectric generating station water usage, and implemented various optimizations and enhancements to the existing auditing system
      • Performed daily data scraping and reporting of fuel cost inputs, for analysis and forecasting models to estimate electricity pricing and costs
      • Much of the technologies involved include Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, VBA, SQL, and some Java tools

  • Toronto Hydro Corporation

    • Capacity Planning, Records Management
      • Created internal tools to assist with parsing large amounts of data used by the asset management/tracking and geographical information systems (GIS)
      • Assisted in the creation of a power systems training course (related to substation design) for employees focused or with backgrounds in related engineering roles
      • Wrote various data analysis and reporting applications using C# and the .NET Framework, including the Microsoft Office interop assemblies

Patents

The following is a list of patents I have authored/co-authored:

  • US9403278B1: Systems and methods for detecting and picking up a waste receptacle (link)
    • Patent covers the use of sensors and/or computer vision to allow automated control of a hydraulic arm on waste collection vehicles, allowing for a much faster pickup cycle, reduction in driver workload and training requirements, and improved overall safety via greater spatial awareness
    • Co-authored patent as part of my work for Eagle Vision Systems, where a successful implementation of the system was developed
    • The initial development implementation was successful, with real-world testing currently ongoing

Literature

Based on my experience with image processing, especially in the areas of Python and OpenCV, I have participated in the development of the following published books:

Across the Web

You can find me at the following websites:

Note that the usernames listed above are not unique. Only the accounts in the list above are truly me.

Contact Me

To contact me, visit the Contact page (link) for details.