NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center
Actuator Digital Twin & Flight Controls
I developed a physics-based actuator digital twin for fault isolation and a separate four-actuator HIL flight controller.
View case studyAerospace · Controls · Software
Engineering systemsfrom model to mission.
I’m Parker Melling, a Georgia Tech computer science and aerospace engineering student working across flight software, controls, autonomy, and physical systems.
- Domains
- Air · Space · Code
- Approach
- Model · Build · Validate
SYS / UAV-01FLIGHT TESTED
Loading 3D modelDESIGN → INTEGRATION → TEST01 / 03
01 Selected work
Systems with stakes.
Flight software, controls, and physical systems built through modeling, implementation, and test.
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
Artemis Flight Software Tooling
I implemented C++ simulation fixes and Python verification tools for the real-time Linux SLS hardware-in-the-loop environment.
View case studyIndependent engineering build
Autonomous 3D-Printed Pacing Drone
I designed, fabricated, wired, integrated, and flight-tested a custom autonomous quadrotor spanning roughly three feet from propeller tip to propeller tip and weighing about seven pounds fully assembled.
View case study02 More projects
Across the stack.
AIAA Regional Student Conferences
Optimal Powered-Descent Guidance
I co-authored a Rust-based study comparing zero-order-hold and Chebyshev-Gauss-Lobatto formulations for losslessly convexified powered descent.
View case study
Georgia Tech Supersonics
Supersonic Aircraft Modeling & Flight Controls
I evaluated Cobra's natural stability with OpenVSP and AVL models, then separately designed Kestrel's outer-loop flight-control architecture.
View case study
Georgia Tech Experimental Rocketry
GTXR: Mach 'N' Roll
I developed machine-learning fin-flutter surrogates that accelerated genetic rocket-configuration optimization.
View case study
Team 5010 · Spitfire & Tigershark
FRC Competition Robotics
I led Java software for two competition robots spanning autonomous and teleoperated motion, perception, aiming, and game-piece handling.
View case study
Georgia Tech Byte Fight
Byte Fight 2026
I built a CPU-constrained game bot combining parallel tree search, selective expansion, hashing, vectorization, and automated evaluator tuning.
View case study
HackGT 12
MedSignal
I helped build a FHIR-compliant medication-management application connecting patients and physicians through secure, synchronized workflows.
View case study
Georgia Tech · Atlanta, GA03 About
Two disciplines.
One systems mindset.
I study computer science and aerospace engineering at Georgia Tech, connecting software rigor with the realities of dynamic, safety-critical systems.
My work ranges from flight-software verification and actuator digital twins to trajectory optimization, robotics, and hands-on UAV testing. The throughline is simple: understand the physics, make the interfaces explicit, and validate the result.
Core technical competencies
01
Software & systems
- C++ / C / Java / Python / Rust
- Linux and real-time systems
- Performance-focused implementation
02
Flight software & verification
- Hardware-in-the-loop simulation
- Mission-behavior analysis
- Verification and testing
03
Controls & GNC
- PID and nonlinear control
- Trimming and linearization
- System identification
04
Modeling & simulation
- MATLAB / Simulink
- Physics-based digital twins
- Aircraft and rocket modeling
05
Autonomy & robotics
- Sensor fusion and state estimation
- Computer vision
- Autonomous control
06
Optimization, numerical methods & AI
- Trajectory optimization
- Search and stochastic tuning
- ML surrogate modeling
07
Hardware, CAD & prototyping
- CAD and finite-element analysis
- Electronics integration
- Fabrication and hardware test
Technical toolkit
The stack behind the work.
Languages, systems, methods, and tools used across the projects above.
Programming languages
- Java
- C++
- C
- Python
- MATLAB
- Rust
- JavaScript
Development & systems
- Linux
- Git
- CMake
- real-time systems
- embedded C++
- code generation
- hardware-in-the-loop simulation
- verification & testing
- SIMD vectorization
Flight software & standards
- MIL-STD-1553B
- MIL-STD-1750A
- launch and mission behavior analysis
- simulation verification
Controls & GNC
- PID control
- nonlinear-control interfaces
- trimming
- linearization
- system identification
- flight controls
- trajectory optimization
Modeling & aerospace tools
- MATLAB / Simulink
- OpenVSP
- AVL
- RASAero
- RocketPy
- digital twins
Autonomy & robotics
- sensor fusion
- state estimation
- computer vision
- autonomous control
- ArduPilot
- Mission Planner
Optimization & algorithms
- lossless convexification
- Chebyshev pseudospectral methods
- genetic optimization
- minimax
- alpha-beta pruning
- iterative deepening
- beam search
- breadth-first search
- Zobrist hashing
- SPSA
AI & machine learning
- ML surrogate modeling
- CNN-based fault-isolation context
- vision-model integration
Hardware & product technologies
- Onshape
- Fusion 360
- finite-element analysis
- electronics integration
- 3D printing
- hardware testing
- React Native
- FHIR / Medplum
- JWT authentication
- geolocation APIs
04 Research & recognition
Work made public.
A published comparison of numerical formulations for real-time powered-descent guidance.
Evaluating Numerical Solving Methods for Optimal Powered Descent
Co-authored research comparing zero-order-hold time discretization with Chebyshev pseudospectral parameterization for losslessly convexified soft landing.