Nigel Armstrong
California, United States
Summary
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RockstarNigel Armstrong is a Senior Software Engineer at Google with 11 years of experience building embedded and automation systems across robotics and automotive domains. He has deep hands-on expertise in low-level hardware integration and power management, notably contributing power-saving and CI improvements to comma.ai’s Panda device and the openpilot stack used on hundreds of cars. Nigel blends embedded firmware, USB and vehicle bus protocol work with automation and DevOps tooling—improving reliability from device WiFi to Jenkins-driven test pipelines. Prior roles in controls engineering and QA automation show a practical systems mindset rooted in PLCs, 3D emulation, and rigorous testing. Based in California, he combines production-grade engineering at scale with a knack for finding and fixing subtle, hard-to-reproduce issues across hardware-software boundaries.
11 years of coding experience
Github Skills (28)
docker10
robotics10
python10
drive10
hardware-interface10
c1110
integrations10
dockers10
power-management10
c1710
system10
driver10
sys10
system-integration10
can-bus10
Programming languages (12)
Github contributions (5)
commaai/panda
Feb 2019 - May 2019
code powering the comma.ai panda
Role in this project:
Embedded Systems Engineer / DevOps Engineer
Embedded Systems Engineer / DevOps EngineerContributions:13 commits, 16 PRs, 112 pushes in 2 months
Contributions summary:Nigel contributed significantly to the power management of the comma.ai panda device, implementing power-saving features across multiple hardware components. They refactored the code to allow for turning off CAN, GMLAN, LIN, and GPS when inactive, reducing power consumption. They also focused on improving the reliability of the WiFi connection. Furthermore, they worked on integrating the project with Jenkins for automated testing and continuous integration, including setting up a Docker environment.
pandacommapython
commaai/openpilot
Feb 2019 - May 2019
openpilot is an operating system for robotics. Currently, it upgrades the driver assistance system on 300+ supported cars.
Role in this project:Embedded Systems Engineer / Automation Engineer
Embedded Systems Engineer / Automation EngineerContributions:15 commits, 23 PRs, 27 pushes in 2 months
Contributions summary:Nigel primarily contributed to the core functionality of the `openpilot` project, specifically focusing on updating and integrating the Panda hardware. Their work involved modifying low-level system components, including USB communication with the Panda, debugging, and making specific car model adaptations, alongside contributions to the testing and automation infrastructure. The commits show expertise in interacting with and updating various car models' communication protocols. The user also addressed improvements to the continuous integration pipeline, ensuring build and test processes are correctly implemented.
driveroperating-systemroboticsdriver-assistance-systemsadvanced-driver-assistance-systems
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