Prompt - A letter of motivation (also called a "statement of purpose" or "personal essay") is a brief essay in which you explain what you hope to achieve, as well as what qualifies you as a top candidate for the admission, why you selected that specific programme, and why you have chosen Politecnico di Milano among other universities. (max. 2 pages each)
There are about 660,000 people with severe visual impairments in Ghana, leaving these individuals unable to navigate their surroundings autonomously. As I worked on developing a vision-based assistive device for visually impaired individuals, I came to realise not only the profound impact that technology could have on empowering these communities but also the gaps in my knowledge that would need to be addressed to make such solutions more effective. This realisation informed my decision to pursue graduate studies. I recognise that affordable, low-resource solutions are essential for real-world impact, and I aim to develop a robust visual perception and planning system optimised for real-time, low-power devices. To achieve this, I seek to deepen my expertise in perception and planning and believe the Automatic Control and Engineering program at Politecnico di Milano offers the ideal foundation to help build and conduct impactful research on such systems. Ultimately, I aspire to become an academic working on problems on robust visual perception and planning systems optimised for real-time assistive technology, and to achieve this, I will need a deep technical understanding along with valuable research experience.
I believe that this program perfectly aligns with my goals because it has a strong foundation in vision and robotics, demonstrated through modules such as "Robust Control," "Perception, Localisation, and Mapping for Mobile Robots," and "Image Analysis and Computer Vision." In the "Image Analysis and Computer Vision" course, I aim to gain a thorough understanding of computer vision, including its current challenges, and explore ways to advance the field. I will use this understanding to evaluate various computer vision models and choose and implement the best for my applications, as well as conduct research in this field. I am also excited to take "Robust Control." This course will help me understand how real-world systems are subject to various types of uncertainties and will equip me to design controllers that maintain stability and performance in unpredictable environments like those my assistive devices would be navigating. Furthermore, through "Perception, Localisation, and Mapping for Mobile Robots," I will learn about techniques like visual odometry and probabilistic methods that help estimate a robot's position when GPS data is unreliable or unavailable. With this understanding, I would be able to create accurate localisation, which is crucial for any mobile robot, especially in environments where GPS will not be effective like indoor settings for my assistive device.
Aside from the knowledge I would acquire through coursework, I also find the research environment at Politecnico di Milano stimulating and aligned with my goals. I find Prof. X's work on human-robot collaboration fascinating, as it directly aligns with my goal of ensuring safe and efficient robot-human interaction in dynamic environments. The professor's approach of using danger zones for collision avoidance and real-time trajectory optimisation aligns with my interest in designing vision-based assistive robots that can safely navigate while maintaining high efficiency. Research experience in his lab would also provide me with research training in preparation for a PhD.
I anticipate that this program will be enlightening and challenge me beyond my potential. I firmly believe based on my previous experience that I have been adequately prepared to take on this task. My academic background in electrical engineering has provided me with a solid foundation in control systems, which I am excited to deepen in your program. Furthermore, I developed a strong grasp of feedback, stability, and robust control techniques, applied to complex real-world systems, during my undergraduate coursework.
Additionally, during my time at a robotics summer school, I gained a brief introduction to simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM) and trajectory planning, which I aim to deepen through this master's program. Also, I gained hands-on experience programming a semi-autonomous robot to navigate complex, obstacle-filled environments. Working with Robotic Operating System (ROS) and Gazebo, I used mapping and localisation packages to achieve reliable path planning in dynamic settings. This experience deepened my understanding of the importance of robust localisation and increased my interest in learning more about such systems. I aim to expand on these skills during the program and to develop advanced control algorithms that support autonomous navigation in unstructured environments, such as urban areas.
Moreover, a significant part of my robotics experience has been in computer vision, where I've applied perception techniques to extract meaningful information from visual data. I independently acquired most of my computer vision knowledge by building various projects, including a system that combines a Convolutional Recurrent Neural Network (CRNN) for real-time scene text recognition and YOLO (You Only Look Once) for efficient obstacle detection in a user's path. This project gave me insight into the complexities of perception as it applies to robotics. Eager for more knowledge, I learnt the more advanced concepts such as domain adaptation and generative modelling at the Computer Vision Summer School. I hope to deepen my understanding of visual perception systems in your program and learn how to create robots that operate autonomously in visually complex environments, such as fields and urban spaces.
Working on vision-based assistive technology for visually impaired users highlighted the diverse skills that were needed, from advanced control systems to robust perception, motivating me to pursue graduate studies at Politecnico Milano. I am confident that the specialised coursework, research opportunities, and expert guidance offered by your program will equip me with the expertise necessary to turn my vision into reality. I look forward to growing as a researcher and making impactful advancements in robotics and automation through your graduate program.
There are about 660,000 people with severe visual impairments in Ghana, leaving these individuals unable to navigate their surroundings autonomously. As I worked on developing a vision-based assistive device for visually impaired individuals, I came to realise not only the profound impact that technology could have on empowering these communities but also the gaps in my knowledge that would need to be addressed to make such solutions more effective. This realisation informed my decision to pursue graduate studies. I recognise that affordable, low-resource solutions are essential for real-world impact, and I aim to develop a robust visual perception and planning system optimised for real-time, low-power devices. To achieve this, I seek to deepen my expertise in perception and planning and believe the Automatic Control and Engineering program at Politecnico di Milano offers the ideal foundation to help build and conduct impactful research on such systems. Ultimately, I aspire to become an academic working on problems on robust visual perception and planning systems optimised for real-time assistive technology, and to achieve this, I will need a deep technical understanding along with valuable research experience.
I believe that this program perfectly aligns with my goals because it has a strong foundation in vision and robotics, demonstrated through modules such as "Robust Control," "Perception, Localisation, and Mapping for Mobile Robots," and "Image Analysis and Computer Vision." In the "Image Analysis and Computer Vision" course, I aim to gain a thorough understanding of computer vision, including its current challenges, and explore ways to advance the field. I will use this understanding to evaluate various computer vision models and choose and implement the best for my applications, as well as conduct research in this field. I am also excited to take "Robust Control." This course will help me understand how real-world systems are subject to various types of uncertainties and will equip me to design controllers that maintain stability and performance in unpredictable environments like those my assistive devices would be navigating. Furthermore, through "Perception, Localisation, and Mapping for Mobile Robots," I will learn about techniques like visual odometry and probabilistic methods that help estimate a robot's position when GPS data is unreliable or unavailable. With this understanding, I would be able to create accurate localisation, which is crucial for any mobile robot, especially in environments where GPS will not be effective like indoor settings for my assistive device.
Aside from the knowledge I would acquire through coursework, I also find the research environment at Politecnico di Milano stimulating and aligned with my goals. I find Prof. X's work on human-robot collaboration fascinating, as it directly aligns with my goal of ensuring safe and efficient robot-human interaction in dynamic environments. The professor's approach of using danger zones for collision avoidance and real-time trajectory optimisation aligns with my interest in designing vision-based assistive robots that can safely navigate while maintaining high efficiency. Research experience in his lab would also provide me with research training in preparation for a PhD.
I anticipate that this program will be enlightening and challenge me beyond my potential. I firmly believe based on my previous experience that I have been adequately prepared to take on this task. My academic background in electrical engineering has provided me with a solid foundation in control systems, which I am excited to deepen in your program. Furthermore, I developed a strong grasp of feedback, stability, and robust control techniques, applied to complex real-world systems, during my undergraduate coursework.
Additionally, during my time at a robotics summer school, I gained a brief introduction to simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM) and trajectory planning, which I aim to deepen through this master's program. Also, I gained hands-on experience programming a semi-autonomous robot to navigate complex, obstacle-filled environments. Working with Robotic Operating System (ROS) and Gazebo, I used mapping and localisation packages to achieve reliable path planning in dynamic settings. This experience deepened my understanding of the importance of robust localisation and increased my interest in learning more about such systems. I aim to expand on these skills during the program and to develop advanced control algorithms that support autonomous navigation in unstructured environments, such as urban areas.
Moreover, a significant part of my robotics experience has been in computer vision, where I've applied perception techniques to extract meaningful information from visual data. I independently acquired most of my computer vision knowledge by building various projects, including a system that combines a Convolutional Recurrent Neural Network (CRNN) for real-time scene text recognition and YOLO (You Only Look Once) for efficient obstacle detection in a user's path. This project gave me insight into the complexities of perception as it applies to robotics. Eager for more knowledge, I learnt the more advanced concepts such as domain adaptation and generative modelling at the Computer Vision Summer School. I hope to deepen my understanding of visual perception systems in your program and learn how to create robots that operate autonomously in visually complex environments, such as fields and urban spaces.
Working on vision-based assistive technology for visually impaired users highlighted the diverse skills that were needed, from advanced control systems to robust perception, motivating me to pursue graduate studies at Politecnico Milano. I am confident that the specialised coursework, research opportunities, and expert guidance offered by your program will equip me with the expertise necessary to turn my vision into reality. I look forward to growing as a researcher and making impactful advancements in robotics and automation through your graduate program.
