sebastjan.

Writing

Mostly essays, sometimes notes. Always shorter than I planned.

The Math Behind the Magic: Markov Decision Processes in Isaac Lab

The Math Behind the Magic: Markov Decision Processes in Isaac Lab

Defining a task in Isaac Lab means specifying a Markov Decision Process - states, actions, transitions, rewards, and a discount factor. Seeing the MDP turns reward design from guesswork into deliberate craft.

What Is a Policy, Really? The Thing Isaac Lab Actually Produces

What Is a Policy, Really? The Thing Isaac Lab Actually Produces

A policy is the small neural network Isaac Lab trains - a function from observation to action, shipped as a checkpoint and then as portable TorchScript and ONNX files.

Isaac Sim vs. Isaac Lab: How NVIDIA's Robot-Training Stack Fits Together

Isaac Sim vs. Isaac Lab: How NVIDIA's Robot-Training Stack Fits Together

How NVIDIA's Omniverse, Isaac Sim, Isaac Lab, and Isaac ROS layer together into a single sim-to-real stack.

A Love Letter to Dutch Weather

A Love Letter to Dutch Weather

From Someone Who Has Stopped Trying

Dear Amsterdam

Dear Amsterdam

A word about one of the most likable cities in the world.

Chasing Thunderstorms

Chasing Thunderstorms

I've been filming thunderstorms from terraces and balconies for years. The same obsession that sends me out with a phone also ends up inside Unreal Engine.

Dolphins off La Alcaidesa

Dolphins off La Alcaidesa

On a May afternoon on the Costa del Sol, a pod of dolphins passed through the Strait of Gibraltar just off the La Alcaidesa golf course. This is what it looked like.

Experimenting with AR

Experimenting with AR

In 2019, before AR toolkits were mature, pointing a phone at your desk and watching something appear in the world felt genuinely strange. It still does.

Record the Solution

Record the Solution

A short screen recording does more for your colleagues than any written tutorial. Here's why it's worth making a habit of.

Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality

How our RYOT group brought augmented and virtual reality into retail — and genuinely changed how people shop.

Weeds Grow on Nothing. Strawberries Want Everything.

Weeds Grow on Nothing. Strawberries Want Everything.

A short observation on why the plants you want are hard and the plants you don't are not.

A Procedural Sun

A Procedural Sun

A pixel-art sun rendered entirely from a Houdini network — no painting, no hand-placed pixels.

PATS — Pika and the Seagulls

PATS — Pika and the Seagulls

A completely unnecessary game born from one seagull, one dog, and one very unfortunate afternoon.

Planet of Lana and the Art of Caring Too Much

Planet of Lana and the Art of Caring Too Much

A small team made one of the most visually striking games in years. It shows in every single frame.

The Internet Knows Too Much About Hedgehog Poo

The Internet Knows Too Much About Hedgehog Poo

My wife summoned me to the garden. What followed was an unexpected deep-dive into the surprisingly well-documented world of hedgehog droppings.

Hello, World

Hello, World

First post — a test of the blog setup and a quick hello.