From building robots to inspect glasses to developing software for autonomous vehicles and robotics – Julie Derence, co-founder of TBD Robotics LLC is inspiring future generations of engineers by supporting women’s groups and leading the way throughout her career. She is one of the amazing women Auto Futures is profiling for International Women’s Day.
“I took a traditional route to get where I am,” explains Derence.
“I went to Bucknell University. I am actually an Air Force brat. My family moved around the country every two to four years. I had to switch schools every time we moved. I went to Bucknell University because it was close to my family members.
“At Bucknell University, I fell in love with engineering. Bucknell offers a great program where you can sample all the various engineering disciplines that they offer. I found computer science to be the most fun thing that I have ever done, so I stuck with it.”
After she graduated, she was able to get a job doing computer software programming for the government. Then she says she was lucky to stumble into doing software for the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC) at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
“I had so much fun working in robotics. It was an aspect of engineering I had not been exposed to before and it was fun to work in a field where I could solve real-world problems with robots,” says Derence, “the interesting thing about robots for me is that they are designed to solve problems that are too dangerous or too monotonous for humans to do.”
One of her early jobs was building a glassware inspection system. Glasses going through the plant can have defects. Obviously, inspecting hundreds of pieces of glass is quite monotonous for a human – not to mention being hard on the eyes. A robot, by contrast, does not get tired of looking at the glassware.
However, glass-checking robots were only the beginning.
“My proudest achievement working at NREC was building autonomous hauling trucks,” she says.
The scale of the hauling vehicles is huge. It takes two ladders to climb in them. The wheels are bigger than Shaquille O’Neal. The trucks are used for open-pit mining. It is extremely dusty. There’s no visibility, so it makes it easy for vehicle accidents. It’s a dirty job and hauling from point A to B.
The type of hauler Derence worked to automate
“The work that my team did is still in use today. The safety stats for those mine sites are dramatically better. There are no harmful incidents involving the robots which is absolutely amazing. It may have saved a lot of lives,” she explains.
From NREC to Self-Driving Uber Advanced Technologies Group (ATG)
“I joined Uber [ATG] in 2015. I was the first female engineer to join the group. Uber was the extension of the work I was doing using the same technology we were developing in surface mines and applying it to urban driving,” she says.
At Uber, Derence developed key infrastructure software to enhance automotive safety, intelligent traffic mapping, user experience, and autonomy technology. She also led a women’s resource group at Uber.
“We had learning sessions where we would have people from all different aspects of autonomous vehicles. Everybody had a different skill set. We would meet up over lunch and someone would talk about what she does. It was really great to learn these new skills and to understand the terminology and the language as well as build out a network,” says Derence.
While Derence was at Uber, she participated in the Pittsburgh Technology Council’s Virtual STEM Summit, talking about her career, and taking questions from middle school students.
“STEM programs are especially important in middle school. It is the time when girls drop out of the sciences,” she explains.
She revealed to the students the lessons she had learnt in working in robotics. She advised the students to, “Keep challenging yourself. Listen to your gut. Be confident in what you do. Ask for help when unsure. Be sure to make allies and friends and always have fun.”
What’s more, Derence participates in Society of Women Engineers and Women in Autonomy events.
She left Uber ATG before it was sold to Aurora because her elementary school children were home during the pandemic.
TBD Robotics LLC Grounded in Pittsburgh
Derence co-founded TBD Robotics LLC in 2021. “TBD” letters represent the last names of the founders.
“T” is for Dan Tascione, who worked at Uber and Carnegie Mellon. “B” is for Jordan Brindza, who worked at Uber and National Robotics Engineering Center. The, of course, “D” is for Derence herself. The founders previously worked together for years. Their goal is to build software and the basic infrastructure needed for robotics.
TBD Robotics offers a toolkit to enable all kinds of robotic functions that are ready for production. The software can be applied to autonomous vehicles or robots.
The toolkit is named Advanced Robotics Kit (Ark). Ark is a deterministic platform where you can build custom algorithms. It is similar to ROS (Robot Operating System) toolkit. But it is more focused on production-grade robotics, says Derence.
Ark includes tools for collecting data, controlling robots, running simulations, ingesting and organizing data logs, or orchestrating machine learning pipelines.
“You need reliability and dependability on both hardware and software. The software is constantly changing. You have to be able to easily control new things. It has to be reconfigured. You have to be able to tune the knobs accordingly,” Derence explains.
“We’re grounded here in Pittsburgh, working and consulting with big-name companies and seeing opportunities going forward. We’re excited to get other companies off the ground. That way, the companies can optimise robotics faster with productive scalability,” says Derence.
The Importance of Diversity and Women in Robotics
“It’s important to build a team with people that come from all walks of life,” says Derence.
“I persistently look for diversity from people from all walks of life because it brings them into the thought process. When you diversify your team, it helps in diversifying the product.
“I encourage women to get into the robotics space because the technology is moving very quickly. It’s an exciting place because people are passionate about what they do. Go for it and see if it matches who you are.”
The Future of Robotics and Autonomous Driving
For Derence, robotics will enable a future where life is made simpler and more convenient for humans – just as dishwashers and washing machines did back in the day. Robotics will automate the dirty and dangerous jobs and help with labour shortages.
“What is great about robotics is it is not limited to any market. I see robots coming into play to help automate work,” says Derence, “Autonomous driving is coming very soon.”
Keyword: Robotic Problem Solving and a Safer Autonomous Future from TBD Robotics LLC Co-Founder Julie Derence