Mark Sauder
Senior GNC Engineer at PteroDynamics Inc.
Monument, Colorado, United States
Summary
🤩
Rockstar🎓
Top SchoolMark Sauder is a Senior GNC Engineer with 11 years of hands-on experience designing guidance, navigation, and control systems for autonomous aircraft and ground vehicles, currently leading autopilot algorithm work for VTOL aircraft at PteroDynamics. He blends deep systems engineering and manufacturing experience with strong embedded software skills, contributing to prominent open-source projects like PX4 where he improved GPS drivers and sensor integration. As founder and former CEO of Grey Point Corporation he developed edge-of-envelope control techniques enabling aggressive maneuvers and expanded operational envelopes for unmanned systems. His background spans test piloting, production management, and continuous improvement, giving him a rare mix of flight-test credibility and production-line pragmatism. Based in Monument, Colorado, he holds an M.S. in Controls Engineering and Unmanned Systems and is known for practical, model-independent control approaches that simplify trajectory planning across air, ground, and underwater platforms.
11 years of coding experience
19 years of employment as a software developer
M.S. M.E., Controls Engineering and Unmanned Systems, M.S. M.E., Controls Engineering and Unmanned Systems at South Dakota Mines
Github Skills (15)
embedded10
drones10
c-language10
serial-communication10
cprogramming-language10
autopilot10
sys10
mavlink10
sensor9
linux9
gps9
cmake8
i2c7
rtos7
bootloader6
Programming languages (7)
Github contributions (5)
crayzeewulf/libserial
Feb 2018 - Sep 2020
Serial Port Programming in C++
Role in this project:
Backend Developer
Backend DeveloperContributions:3 releases, 1 review, 52 commits in 2 years 7 months
Contributions summary:Mark's contributions primarily focused on merging and resolving conflicts related to the c++14 branch. They implemented a method to compute the required time for an additional byte of data to arrive based on the set baud rate. Additionally, they updated licenses to BSD 3-Clause and replaced #ifdefs with #pragma once for improved code maintainability and portability. The changes demonstrate a focus on improving the codebase and ensuring compatibility with newer C++ standards.
cppserial-portsserialserialportlinux
PX4/PX4-Autopilot
Feb 2018 - Jan 2023
PX4 Autopilot Software
Role in this project:Embedded Systems Engineer / IoT Developer
Embedded Systems Engineer / IoT DeveloperContributions:141 reviews, 195 commits, 205 PRs in 4 years 11 months
Contributions summary:Mark contributed to the PX4 Autopilot Software by updating CMakeLists files within the drivers/imu directory, indicating involvement in sensor integration. They also made changes to the mavlink_main.cpp file, specifically alphabetizing mavlink stream lists. Additionally, the user addressed whitespace issues and formatted various vehicle application and startup scripts, and added failsafe arguments in the rc.interface. Finally, the user added GPS_STATUS.hpp stream and included PRN code to the satellite_info.msg, indicating GPS integration efforts.
multicopteravoidancedroneuasraspberry-pi
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