From chess to robotics to transit: Alumnus David Khachatryan ’22 is committed to safety and accessibility

By Karen Barrett-Wilt

From ensuring robots can safely work alongside humans to making Chicago’s transit system navigable for riders with disabilities, Alumnus David Khatachatryan’s ’22 career has been defined by a single principle: technology should work for everyone. His path from competitive chess player to robotics engineer and transit app co-creator demonstrates how technical skill paired with empathy can create meaningful impact. 

Can you tell me about what you’re doing professionally right now?

I am a software engineer working at Elevate Robotics/Apptronik. My work spans the full spectrum of robotics — one day I might be creating physics simulations to test how a robot will handle different tasks, the next day I’m troubleshooting hardware issues on circuit boards, and another day I’m developing the algorithms that help robots navigate spaces and plan their movements.

I help teach robots how to “think” about moving through the world and manipulating objects, while also making sure all the physical components (sensors, motors, electronics) work together properly. It’s a mix of software engineering, hands-on hardware work, and lots of problem-solving across disciplines. 

I graduated from UW–Madison with a CS degree in 2022, right before LLMs invaded our industry. While the tools have been rapidly changing, the problem-solving approaches and theoretical grounding from UW were essential for setting me up for success in my MS in Robotics at Northwestern University and subsequently in the robotics industry.

More specifically, my work includes high-fidelity physics simulation (think MuJoCo/Isaac Sim for task validation), low-level debugging and embedded systems work, and implementing navigation/motion planning stacks. This is topped with safety considerations for our robots during every development iteration. There is no success in robotics without devising and following thoughtful safety protocols. Essentially, I’m a generalist who enjoys working across the full robotics pipeline from simulation to deployment.

So the robots you’re working on — what are they being designed to do?

My company is working on creating superhuman robots that are designed to work alongside humans.  

Is there a project or accomplishment in your job that you’re especially proud of?

The field of robotics has extensive safety (ISO) regulations that industrial, professionally made robots must follow. When working on robots designed to work alongside humans, you need to be absolutely sure that your robot has appropriate safety features like collision avoidance. Without these safeguards, robots can cause serious injuries through unexpected movements or collisions. However, with proper safety programming, robots can work directly alongside humans without barriers. Supporting and testing these safety features every day requires a lot of observations and thinking, and it feels great to be at the forefront of integrating robots as assistants and not full replacement for people who do manual labor that requires heavy lifting. 

What initially motivated you to study computer science – and specifically robotics?

I have been a competitive chess player since I was a kid, and my USCF rating is 2100 (which is top 20 in Wisconsin). I found that the things I like so much about playing chess (such as the technicality, logic, and analysis of the game) were highly transferable skills when I took my first CS class. Computer science immediately drew me in.

What brought you to UW–Madison?

I didn’t know a whole lot about American colleges before moving here, but I knew that UW–Madison was a place where I could get a broad knowledge of a subject before doing a deep dive and finding my niche, giving me a nice balance between overarching and specific knowledge.

And where did you move here from?

I moved to the USA from Yerevan, Armenia when I was 18. I don’t have any family in the USA, but people in Madison were very nice and welcoming!

What are some things you did at UW outside of your classes — things like clubs, internships, or other experiences? How did those benefit your education or career?

I landed an internship opportunity in my junior year at Datachat — the spinoff started by  Professor Jignesh Patel’s research lab. The opportunity helped me understand how to take what I had learned in my classes and apply them to help meet the needs of real people.

Do you have any advice for current CS students? Was there anything someone told you early in your career that really helped you?

Anything you do, do it with 100% commitment. This is advice I got from my parents when I was just starting out at UW–Madison, and it’s the advice I would pass on to anyone currently starting out in CS.

Finally, what do you like to do for fun when you’re not working?

I am also the co-creator of a transit application called “EL Tracker,” which has over 6000 active users around Chicago who love our transit accessibility features and our simple, streamlined app for Chicago Transit Authority riders. [Many Chicago trains are elevated, which has given them the nickname “El”.]

That’s amazing! Can you give me an example of the accessibility features that set it apart?

Yes! I love to talk about EL Tracker. The main thing that we accomplished was making it possible for users with low vision to easily find out when the next train or bus is arriving. No app was compatible for low vision users. We also added Siri/Text to speech support. People with low vision often rely on public transit as the only affordable method of transportation, so having a free and easy to access companion app is critical.

Another accessibility feature is personalized elevator outage notifications. Most Chicago train stations are elevated, and if you are a wheelchair user, it is impossible to get on the train without an elevator. There was no app that would notify users about elevator outages, and people with accessibility challenges need to know about this so they can get to work on time. The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) has text alerts, but they send outage notifications for all stations, and most people only ever use two stations.

We also created home screen widgets, essentially eliminating the need to even open an app. This is why EL Tracker was originally created. Being a regular commuter of the CTA, the sentiment among riders was that no app is free, ad-free, and easy to use. So, I decided to contribute some of my free time to that effort. We stay committed to keeping the app free and ad free. We accept donations, which help cover part of our infrastructure costs, but we never solicit them. In an era when everything is bloated with ads and locked behind subscriptions, it feels good to create something simple and helpful.