Peter Kernohan

Robotics student at Maynooth University, building robots that do useful physical work.

I’m in third year of Robotics & Intelligent Devices. Most of my work is robot arms, computer vision and automation, and I lead the university’s Engineering & Robotics Society.

Highlights

  • Grew the Engineering & Robotics Society from 5 to 70 members as president
  • Brought a society team to an Intel robotics competition in Munich, where they placed third
  • Selected for the IEEE Global Robot Championship 2026 in Malta, Robot Arm AI Challenge
  • Awarded MUSE Platinum, the top level of Maynooth University’s Student Experience Award

Open to placements and projects in robotics and automation, especially in manufacturing and off-site construction.

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Peter giving a thumbs up beside the robot arm and control dashboard he built at a hackathon in Warsaw
At the Alien Bazaar hardware hackathon in Warsaw, with our household sorting robot.

Selected work

Robots I’ve designed, built and programmed, most recent first.

Two SO-101 robotic arms mounted on a wooden training board

Low-cost assistive robotic arms

October – December 2026, in progress

A dual SO-101 arm system trained with imitation learning to pour drinks and pick and place tools, shaped by feedback from Naas Men’s Shed.

LeRobot, imitation learning, SO-101
Rover-mounted robotic arm beside its live control dashboard

Autonomous household sorting robot

September 2026, Alien Bazaar hackathon, Warsaw

A four-person hackathon build: a rover with a robot arm and camera that finds household items and sorts them on its own.

Python, OpenCV, vision-language model, visual servoing
Assembled reaction wheel inverted pendulum on the test bench

Reaction wheel inverted pendulum

January – June 2026

An upside-down pendulum kept balanced by a spinning wheel, modelled in MATLAB/Simulink with state-feedback control.
Tracked pick-and-place robot with gripper on a gantry

Autonomous pick-and-place robot

January – June 2025

An Arduino mechanism with ultrasonic sensing and PID control that approaches an object and grips it automatically.
Sketch of the combat robot's weapon striking an opponent

RoboRiotz combat robot

May – August 2025

A featherweight combat robot using torque reaction, with MATLAB modelling of its rotational dynamics.

Experience and leadership

Leadership

  • President
    Engineering & Robotics Society, Maynooth University
    2025 – present

    Took over the society and grew it from about 5 to 70 members. Brought a team to an Intel robotics competition in Munich, where they placed third. Run weekly lectures, builds and Makers Club sessions.

  • Treasurer
    IEEE Maynooth Student Branch
    2025 – present

    Manage the budget for IEEE events. Selected in a two-person team to represent IEEE UK & Ireland at the IEEE Global Robot Championship 2026.

  • Head Student Representative
    Robotics & Intelligent Devices, Maynooth University
    2024 – present

    Bring student feedback to faculty and help improve the programme.

  • Assistant Coach
    Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Club, Maynooth University
    2024 – present

    Coach classes, coordinate club events and organise guest seminars.

  • Student Ambassador
    Maynooth University

Experience

  • Lab Demonstrator, Electronic Engineering Fundamentals
    Maynooth University
    September 2026 – present

    Support first-year students in the electronic engineering labs.

  • STEM Specialist, Innovation Lab
    North Shore Day Camp, New York
    Summer 2026

    Set up and ran the camp’s first robotics lab, designing a two-month programme for children aged 8–12. Taught robotics, programming, CAD and electronics, and got students with no experience programming robots to navigate a maze within hours.

Education

  • BSc Robotics & Intelligent Devices
    Maynooth University
    2024 – 2028

    Third year, aiming for First Class Honours. Coursework includes analog and digital circuit design, embedded systems, control dynamics, digital logic and PCB design.

Awards

  • MUSE Platinum
    Maynooth University Student Experience Award

    The highest of the award’s four levels, recognising contribution beyond the classroom.

About

I’ve always learned best by building. Robotics pulls together what I enjoy most: electronics, programming, mechanical design and machine intelligence, all tested on real hardware.

Right now I’m most interested in robot arms that can pick, place and handle things reliably, and in how that kind of automation can take repetitive, physical work off people.

Outside my degree I run the Engineering & Robotics Society, represent my year to faculty, coach at the BJJ club and work as a Student Ambassador.

  • EmbeddedArduino, Raspberry Pi, ESP32
  • Circuits and PCBsAltium Designer
  • ProgrammingPython, C, C++, MATLAB
  • Robotics and controlROS 2, PID, state-feedback control
  • AI and visionYOLOv11s, OpenCV, edge inference
  • CADFusion 360, 3D printing

Get in touch

I’m happy to talk about placements, projects or robotics competitions.

peterjohnkernohan@gmail.com