Autonomy Engineer

Xavier
O'Keefe

Building autonomous systems that work in the real world — from lunar antenna deployments to underwater robotics and fixed-wing autopilots.

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About

I'm an autonomy engineer focused on the gap between simulation and reality — building systems that learn, plan, and act in environments that don't always cooperate. My work spans imitation learning, reinforcement learning, and LLM-guided planning applied to real robotics challenges.

From deploying 100,000 antennas on the lunar surface to steering autonomous submarines, I'm drawn to problems where the physics is hard and the stakes are real.

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Projects

Radio Antenna Deployment — Lunar Mission
Thesis project: deploying a network of 100,000 radio antennas across the lunar surface using a combination of imitation learning, reinforcement learning, and LLM-guided planning. Focused on robust behavior in low-gravity, unstructured terrain.
Imitation Learning RL LLMs Thesis
RoboSub — Autonomous Submarine
President and software lead for a team building a fully autonomous underwater vehicle. Responsible for system architecture, autonomy stack, and competition strategy.
Autonomy Stack Underwater Robotics Leadership
UAS Autopilot — Fixed-Wing Aircraft
Designed and implemented an autopilot system for a fixed-wing unmanned aircraft, tested entirely in simulation. Covers flight control, waypoint navigation, and fault handling.
Flight Control Simulation UAS
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Writing

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Fine-Tuning SmolVLA for New Environments
Correll Lab · Medium
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Planning with Gumbel
Correll Lab · Medium
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When Will Robots Do My Chores? Progress and Promises in Bridging Simulation and Reality
Medium
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Contact

Interested in autonomy, robotics, or working together? Find me here.