Wolfgang Merkt

Oxford, England, United Kingdom

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Summary

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Rockstar

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Wolfgang Merkt is a pragmatic software engineer with 13 years of experience focused on robotics, control and simulation, currently based in Oxford. He combines backend C++ expertise with practical systems work—improving robustness, compatibility and usability across high-profile robotics projects such as Drake, Pinocchio, Crocoddyl and ROS controllers. His contributions span solver improvements (DDP/FDDP, BoxDDP), Python bindings and test automation, and careful API hygiene (runtime assertions, build-system and Python3 fixes), reflecting an emphasis on reliability and cross-language integration. Comfortable navigating legacy C++ constraints and modern build ecosystems, he frequently addresses subtle compiler and compatibility issues that others miss. Educated at the University of Edinburgh, he pairs academic grounding with hands-on open-source impact in mapping, perception and optimal control toolchains.

13 years of coding experience

The University of Edinburgh

German, English, Spanish, French

Github Skills (44)

robotics10

c-language10

controller10

python10

testing10

imu10

dynamic10

cmake10

3d-mapping10

controlling10

numpy10

dynamics10

led-controller10

camera10

machine-vision10

Programming languages (22)

JavaC++CCMakeTeXMakefileHTMLJupyter Notebook

Github contributions (5)

AprilRobotics/apriltag_ros

Mar 2019 - Nov 2022

A ROS wrapper of the AprilTag 3 visual fiducial detector

Role in this project:

Back-end Developer

Contributions:2 releases, 10 reviews, 53 commits in 3 years 9 months

Contributions summary:Wolfgang primarily focused on upgrading the AprilTag 3 library and integrating it into the ROS wrapper. This involved refactoring the existing code, addressing installation issues, and improving performance. Key contributions included replacing the existing catkin wrapper with a submodule, incorporating CMake/package.xml support, and removing deprecated options. Further work included renaming the package and fixing build and dependency issues.

apriltagsvisionfiducial-markersdetectorapriltag

OctoMap/octomap_mapping

Jul 2015 - Jun 2022

ROS stack for mapping with OctoMap, contains octomap_server package

Role in this project:

Back-end Developer

Contributions:6 reviews, 79 commits, 39 PRs in 7 years

Contributions summary:Wolfgang primarily contributed to the `octomap_server` package, making modifications to the `OctomapServer.cpp` and related files. Their work involved iterative improvements, including refactoring and code structure modifications, as well as the introduction of features like colored octomaps by integrating `ColorOcTree`. These changes appear to be focused on enhancing the server's functionality and integration with color data. The user also introduced functionality for 2D map projections and made related improvements, thus improving the system's overall performance.

octomapmappingros

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