[Nav2] A Time for Change

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Hi everyone, its Your Friendly Neighborhood Navigator here with a big announcement.

A couple of weeks ago as the result of restructuring of robotics efforts, I left my role of Senior Technical Lead at Samsung Research. I know this will come as a surprise to many (and to a degree myself).

Over the last ~5 years, I’ve had the privilege of leading the ROS ecosystem down the journey from ROS 1 to ROS 2 and innovate the technologies attached to mobile robotics. Its been such a cool journey to see my work in oil rigs, warehouses, libraries, cleaning public spaces, airplanes, boats, and even featured in the Olympics! I’ve strived to create a community and give opportunity to any that wanted to contribute or grow to do so with close mentorship - I’ve really enjoyed helping dozens of young engineers and students grow into capable and independent engineers. When I could squeeze in the time, I had a blast being able to work on high-risk and high-impact projects that ultimately lead to the creation of some of the crown jewels in the Nav2 stack. Mostly, I’m thankful for everyone that bought into the vision I saw, and still see, for ROS 2 and Nav2.

This has been a great chapter in my life and I genuinely thank Samsung Research for the opportunity afforded to me. However, from where I stand, the next chapter is full of great opportunity and intrigue. While I can’t say much with concrete detail, I am hard at work figuring what’s next for me personally and for ROS 2 Navigation to build on this experience and make an even bigger difference in the next 5 years.

For the time being, my plan is to continue to answer tickets and provide the usual level of support you’ve come to expect, as I want to keep Nav2 happy and healthy. However, any new development from myself is on a hiatus unless otherwise noted. I’m going to be leaning more on companies and individuals that rely on the stack to step up and help brunt the load.

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If you have any questions or want to influence what’s next, please reach out. For everyone else, watch this space.

Happy navigating,

S

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It’s a big loss for Samsung Research! Thank you for all your contributions in ROS2 and Nav2 so far, I personally learned a lot from your ROS answers, github comments, roscon talks, Nav2’s great documentation, etc…

If I may follow that up with a curious question. If it weren’t for your future maintenance plans for Nav2, the project would just go stale? Samsung Research has no interest in maintaining it anymore? (If you can speak to that). That would really be a big loss for the community.

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Samsung Research has lost a talented individual. As a result, it is necessary for us to develop a maintenance plan to ensure that Navigation2 continues to thrive. Not only does Navigation2 provide opportunities for young engineers and students to learn, but it also accelerates many important projects.

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Thanks for all your hard work Steve! It goes without saying that Nav2 would not be where it is now without your involvement. I hope you will find a new project that will enable you to continue to do great things!

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I can’t speak for them, but I’d say actions speak loudly and wait for the next few week(s) to see for yourself.

And I’d love folks like yourself that care about Nav2 to be part of that plan / solution! I’ve always advocated for community contribution and distributed leadership, I’m more than happy to have other stakeholders involved.

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Thank for you work in Nav2 and also your advise so far. It is difficult to find people that are willing to help and do mentorship to young enginners. Also, I would be interested in also continuing to help push the nav2 community forward.

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Thanks for your great efforts!
And for always keeping a positive and constructive attitude. Good luck on your next endeavors, it can only get better!

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Great luck to you Steve. You were a great mentor on the Nav2 project. I’m sure you’ll find a great place to land.

–Matthew

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Thanks Steve for your great work!

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Impressive community development work Steve!

And nice job with that test coverage :wink:

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