HBFS is a group of robotics enthusiasts from the Faculty of Automatic Control and Computer Science, University Politehnica of Bucharest. The academic level of our members ranges considerably, from undergraduate, to master’s and PhD students.
The team is coordinated and advised by young professors, and has set the goal to assimilate knowledge and seek improvement in the fields of micro-electronics, embedded systems, microcontrollers, sensors and actuators. All these are put into practice by creating custom hardware and software for a large spectrum of embedded applications from wearables to autonomous systems and mini robots for various competitions.
Our most renowned robots are the Line Followers, which have been under continuous development since 2014. At the same time, we have been building from scratch a series of reduced size sumo robots, until now taking part in Nano, Micro and Mini categories of sumo fights.
The interests of our team however extend considerably in the embedded universe, thus other projects created in the laboratory situated in PRECIS research center of our university include autonomous and remote-controlled small-scale cars, health monitoring wearables, break-out boards for state of the art sensors and electronic chips.
The R&D activities of HBFS are validated by participating in many national and international robotics competitions, where the team has regularly classified in top positions. Visit the Competitions page to get the full picture of our achievements.
Team Members
Currently, four members are active within the team, a small description for each of them, from left to right, being available below:
- Cristian Dobre
Co-founder and bright-ideas-man, Cristian is currently a master’s student at the Faculty of Automatic Control and Computer Science. He is our embedded programming, PCB design and manufacturing expert, being responsible for every generation of Line Followers. Since no sensor is smart enough for Cristi, he is the person in charge of researching and coming with solutions for new sensors and technologies. His interests also include web design, both front end and back end, motor control and control algorithms.
- Diana Baicu
Currently an undergraduate student at the same university, Diana is open and eager to find solutions to any problem. She is passionate about a wide variety of technologies, from smart-phone applications to machine learning and embedded programming, as well as CAD and PCB design. Using her knowledge, she has build multiple generations of mini sumo robots and contributed to our more complex projects.
- Mihai Crăciunescu
Team leader and co-founder, Mihai is a PhD Student and university assistant at the Faculty of Automatic Control and Computer Science. He has laid the foundation of this group with the aims of achieving performance in robotics, while growing a competent and ingenious team. His expertise and area of interest mainly focuses on image processing, electrical engineering, PCB design and machine learning, as well as management.
- Maria Cîrciumaru
Maria is a graduate of the same faculty, having a master’s degree in Complex Signal Processing. Determined and precise, she has designed and contributed to small sumo robots in our portfolio. Her interests include image processing, embedded and high-level programming, electrical and CAD design.
- Ștefan Mocanu
Coordinating professor and advisor, Mr. Mocanu is a lecturer doctor at the Faculty of Automatic Control and Computer Science. From the beginning, he has been a passionate advocate and supporter of our initiatives, whether it was about experimenting with new technologies or participating in challenging competitions.