Redefining space and terrestrial payload integration through modular reconfigurable systems at the hardware and software layer

Under the AeroAstro Space Resources Workshop, the research proposal for the Walking, Oligomeric, Robotic Mobility System (WORMS) was selected as a finalist by NASA’s 2022 BIG Idea Challenge and received $175K in funding for the project. WORMS is a modular architecture where the robotic mobility capability emerges from the swarm-like integration of a small (“oligomeric”) set of nearly-identical, articulating “worms.” My responsibilities/contributions include:- Leading a team of 12 to develop a running multi-agent autonomy codebase for the WORMS platform from scratch to investigate and ultimately create an adaptive walking gait to allow for lunar mobility in extreme environments- Developed a base simulation environment using custom URDF's in Gazebo and ROS 1 to identify motor requirements and failure modes of model hexapods.- Implemented Red-Fox Optimization protocol to develop an energy-efficient walking scheme rooted in Gait switching for various terrains.- Designed and implemented a novel “Red Carpet” gait to enable smooth and stable traversal of extreme and unknown environments for hexapods using a multi-stage staggered command protocol.- Developed a ROS 2 multi-agent communication architecture to allow for synchronous real-time communication between independent WORM systems running Ubuntu 22.04 on Raspberry Pi 4's- Paper published and presented at ASCEND 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Other paper accepted to IEEE Aerospace 2023- Accepted into MassRobotics Form and Function Challenge with goals to integrate Lattice Machine Vision systems, and Analog Devices Time of Flight Sensor, FESTO Vacuum Gripper, DanFoss radio controllers, and optical encoders to perform a full autonomous mission demo at the Boston Convention Center in May.- Awarded Charles M. Fogg Best Paper Award at IEEE Aerospace 2023

Saturday Engineering Enrichment and Discovery (SEED) Academy is a five and a half year academic enrichment and career exploration program for underrepresented public school students from Boston, Cambridge and Lawrence, Massachusetts who have a strong academic record and interest in science and engineering. As a TA my responsibilities include:- Delivering and creating lectures for 10th-grade students on topics such as teleoperation, wifi connection, path planning, visual servoing, ROS, LIDAR, computer vision, and robotic hardware.- Work with the course staff to maintain the RACECAR System, which is an RC car platform equipped with Jetson Nano, LIDAR, RealSense Camera, and PID motor control. I have been responsible for maintaining the codebase which includes Jupiter notebooks for labs, as well as precoded capabilities such as line following, SLAM, cone detection, and path planning.- Help develop materials for a 11th-grade data science class introducing students to pandas, matplotlib, seaborn, and the ethics of data analysis- Mentor a small subsection of students called a "cluster" by providing advice on exploring the field in an effort to become a mentor and to build community.

- A developing non-profit dedicated to connecting under-served middle/high schools across the nation to educational robotics programs and curriculums to increase STEM engagement among low-income students.- Work with individual schools and districts in a consulting environment to define the needs and existing foundation that would be able to support new STEM programs- Awarded an MIT BCAP fellowship which provided $500 of funding towards the development of the program.- Awarded $800 of funding from MIT's Sandbox Program to further develop operations and to work towards incorporation. Funding has been allocated for pilot programs in Chelsea and Newton Massachusetts.- Successful Pilot program put in motion in Orange, California at Santiago Middle School

- Work with faculty director John Werner to curate inspiring speakers to star in our TEDxMIT events. - Plan and manage training/practice sessions to assist speakers in the creation of their talks while also developing their communication skills.- Engage with student groups and faculty members by hosting open speaker applications for each respective event.

The MIT Advanced Student Technologies in Research and Orbit (ASTRO) group is an ambitious collective of MIT's brightest minds dedicated to pushing the boundaries of space engineering and satellite technology. As a student-led organization, we specialize in the design, construction, and deployment of innovative CubeSats, taking full advantage of NASA's launch opportunities to propel our projects into the cosmos. Our mission is to provide hands-on experience in space systems engineering while contributing to the advancement of space exploration and research. Through interdisciplinary collaboration and a passion for discovery, ASTRO aims to shape the future of space technology and inspire a new diverse generation of aerospace pioneers.As the Co-Founder and Chief Engineer I take the Following Responsibilities:- Lead the development and execution of our CubeSat projects, ensuring alignment with cutting-edge space engineering principles and current research questions.- Drive the innovation and initial design of our novel multiagent separation and docking space debris 6U cube sat mission, directly overseeing the engineering team's progress and quality of work.- Spearhead collaborations with academic and industry leaders to integrate our CubeSats into NASA's launch opportunities and to secure funding for the long term development of the project.- Cultivate a dynamic research environment where students are empowered to explore, create, and contribute to advanced aerospace initiatives.- Manage cross-functional team deliverables, timelines, and resources, maintaining the group's vision for pioneering space technology research.

Arcturus is a RoboBoat team representing the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We are the newest Edgerton Center team, founded in the Fall of 2021, and 2023 will be our second year competing in RoboBoat and our first year competing in RoboSub.- Leading a team of 30 undergraduate students through the development of a ROS 1 software stack to enable full autonomy for underwater and surface vehicles for both the 2023 Roboboat and Njord challenges.- Developing a SLAM and image semantics module as well as a global planner utilizing RRT* and Artificial potential fields for navigation around obstacles for surface-water vehicles.- Creating and training an object detection algorithm utilizing YOLO libraries to perform tasks such as buoy avoidance, shooting skeeballs into specific targets, and more ball collection and manipulation.- Designing and improving a hyper-realistic Gazebo-based aquatic vehicle simulator using Ardu-Pilot control schemes.

Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, SEDS, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is the founding chapter of SEDS. The mission for MIT SEDS is to provide a community for students who have an interest in space through social events, technical projects, and outreach programs. Whether your interest is in astronomy, engineering, business, or more, MIT SEDS gives students a place to learn, grow, and most importantly, have fun doing so. Currently taking over as President for the Fall and Spring semesters.- Manage the current project teams associated under SEDS: University Rover Challenge, ZeroG, and the Cube Sat Coalition between Northeastern University and Tufts- Hold bi-weekly general body social meetings to encourage the passion of space among both undergraduate and graduate students on campus.- Invest in new student initiatives and projects that have some form of relation to space technology

The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers is the largest Hispanic Engineering and Science organization across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. One of 236 student chapters, SHPE-MIT was established in 1987 and has grown to become one of the strongest and most successful chapters in the Northeast. SHPE-MIT is dedicated to developing the professional and academic skills of our members by offering them internships, networking, mentoring, and diversity awareness opportunities. Duties as Vice President include:- Lead and advise the community service committee, a team composed of 4 undergraduates that come together to develop new outreach programs to expand SHPE-MIT's impact into the Boston-Cambridge Area.- Head the development and execution of the MentorSHPE program, a program I took part in founding that provides local high school students a mentoring opportunity with MIT student's coming from diverse under-served backgrounds.- Co-Lead the organization of our weekly General Body Meetings which have attracted over 60 active members that span across both the undergrad and graduate student population- Connect with leading companies and secure large dollar sponsorships to support sending out members to National Convention

The EELS system is a mobile instrument platform conceived to explore internal terrain structures, assess habitability and ultimately search for evidence of life. It is designed to be adaptable to traverse ocean-world-inspired terrain, fluidized media, enclosed labyrinthian environments and liquids. As an APX intern my responsibilities and contributions include:- Work with the software integration team to ensure the successful execution of over 45 repositories in our robotics stack.- Develop command line tools to automate the install of required dependencies such as simulation environments and ROS packages- Create and operate a motor testbed for the DynEELS platform, a 1 meter long version of the full EELS 1.0 system to characterize servos and to develop custom drivers and controllers.- Implementing a sim to real pipeline for a Reinforcement Learning based control scheme (Proximal Policy Optimization) using Isaac Gym and the DynEELS hardware platform.- Develop a full Gazebo simulation environment for the DynEELS robotics platform to test new shape based gaits and locomotion strategies for both surface and subsurface operations. - Design and implement a diagnostic plugin and full user interface within Foxglove to support offline and field operations with EELS 1.0.- Support field testing and create operations documentation to prepare for Athabasca Glacier testing campaign

- Working with Dr. Sertac Karaman to support the JPL RACER project achieve high speed off-road autonomous driving.- Improving existing RRT* planning algorithms using factor graph optimization, Reeds-Shepp / Dubin’s curves, and new Sukharev grid-based sampling methods.- Adding customizable complex terrain generation and improving dynamic models in a Unity based hyper-realistic simulator.- Integrating improved informed sampling method for RRT* via the heuristically guided search of implicit random geometric graphs- Developing a machine learning model to predict vehicle motion given human driver data as well as homotopies produced by the RRT* algorithm

As part of the MIT MISTI Global Teaching Labs Program, I served as a full-time robotics, computer science, and engineering instructor teaching children from ages 12 - 19 at IES Los Rosales, an institute located in the city of Alcorcon outside of Madrid. Through my time in Madrid, I did the following speaking only in Spanish for the duration of my trip:- Developed a full Introduction to Full-Stack Robotics Curriculum in which I guided students through the topics of CAD, Arduino programming, 3D Printing, robot dynamics, visual servoing, decision making, and controls to have them build their own Arduino-based autonomous cars using RADAR-based navigation with ultrasonic sensors (images included below) to compete in challenges. Students presented their work in front of the leaders of the Rafael Del Pio Foundation. - Created a 3D-printed quadruped utilizing open-source designs in order to expose students of all grade levels to the possibilities of additive manufacturing and simple Arduino electronics. Implemented a standard 4-beat stride walking gait, standing sequence, Bluetooth teleoperation, and simple RADAR using ultrasonic sensors.- Repaired the school's 2 broken 3D printers in order to allow students and instructors to use them again and developed labs that introduced students to designing and printing their own designs. - Taught / supported courses in technical drawing, computer science, engineering design, and information/technology by preparing course materials and delivering lectures based on the pre-set Spain Curriculum.

- Work with MIT undergraduates to completely design/build a regenerative cooled liquid propellant rocket engine. Responsibilities include:- Ran computational fluid dynamic models for cooling channel design and used RPA software to define inlet manifold geometry.- Develop runtime scripts for the data acquisition system in Python and C to perform real-time data analysis and post-processing. - Organizer of “Ignite”, a program connecting MIT project team members to under-privileged youth through virtual mentorship.

- Conducting research under LSI chief scientist Dr. Harold White revolving around warp drive / warp field technology.- Used Matlab to create simulations of several York time and energy density configurations of the Alcubierre warp drive through manipulating parameters of the metric tensor and deriving the Stress-Energy-Momentum tensor from line elements.- Exploring use of ion implantation for selective doping of nano-fabricated Casimir cavities to improve conductivity.- Investigating Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy as a method to detect the Casimir force generated by nanofabricated cavities.

Joined the NeBula team that is participating in DARPA’s RACER program (Robotic Autonomy in Complex Environments with Resiliency). The RACER program aims to deliver agile, adaptive, and resilient autonomy for ground vehicles racing across never-before-seen terrains. Equipped with a wide array of sensors and computers, the RACER vehicle represents the cutting-edge of high-speed off-road autonomous vehicle design. Our mission is to equip this vehicle with the intelligence it needs to fully autonomously navigate through treacherous and unknown terrain, at superhuman speeds, within a desired margin of safety. - Worked directly under Patrick Spieler and Ali Agha on developing a bi-directional Dubins-based Recovery Planner utilizing CUDA integration within ROS 1 to reduce intervention during autonomy runs. Working towards conference paper/journal publication. - Supported direct field testing campaigns and strategy meetings - Assisted in the mechanical servicing of the robotic vehicles during field campaigns completing tasks such as drive belt/shaft replacement, front axle changes, and transmission repairs.- Configured base station communication networks and robot-operator remote connections- Interacted with the entire software stack and gained intuition for large-scale robotic system management- Development experience with the Model Predictive Path Integral (MPPI) control architecture.- Navigated secure data protocol and CUI protective measures as it applies to the project.

- Supported the REASIMO team develop a new ROS framework for the Ocean Worlds Autonomy Mission.- Worked with BPMN diagrams and action servers/clients to integrate an existing overhead mission planner into ROS.- Developed a node structure in C++ to allow for existing fault detection software to be initiated by ROS commands/messages.

- Improved existing data acquisition systems and developed new testing systems for the PSYCHE Spacecraft.- Developed a Python CLI tool to effectively display Tektronics Oscilloscope data without sacrificing visual accuracy by implementing the Largest Triangle Three Buckets resampling algorithm.- Designed a detachable stand in Solidworks to hold radioactive material away from the Gamma-Ray-Neutron-Spectrometer.- Ran thermal simulations and finite element analysis to confirm the integrity of the stand in TVAC testing conditions.

- Created a ROS Framework for small robotic arms that will be used for outreach efforts towards minority and under-represented students across the nation. - Worked with the NEXiS team to develop a Python and ROS code structure to remotely control a UR3 6-axis robotic arm.- Developed position/velocity control of the URDF model from scratch using ros_controllers in a Gazebo simulator.- Implemented MoveIt motion control libraries to allow for trajectory planning of the end effector using inverse kinematics.

ABRACADABRA (A Broadband/Resonant Approach to Cosmic Axion Detection with an Amplifying B-field Ring Apparatus) is a new search for axion dark matter. - Worked under Professor Lindley Winslow to integrate a passive vibration isolation system into the detector to mitigate noise.- Designed a Geometric Anti-Spring filter using Solidworks, finite element analysis, and COMSOL to confirm the isolation of external vibrations in simulation.- Developed various shielding technology for exposed terminals to deflect any external electrical noise entering the detector.- Presented research work at MIT’s 2021 Prism physics conference.

- Created an automatic validation system in ROS to calculate the accuracy of laser scans in complex environments.- Developed the tool using C++ and by implementing the tinySLAM and a Canonical Scan Matcher packages.- Used as an educational tool to test the accuracy of student’s laser scans for college robotics courses in St. Petersburg, Russia

- Assisted in the build of a CubeSat testing the ability of electrospray thrusters to switch orbits and change attitude in space.- Created Satellite simulations using Blender, STK and GMAT to determine the optimum orientations of solar arrays in orbit.- Worked with the systems team to ensure proper listing of requirements and to develop testing procedures for each subsystem.

- Work with a team of 8 graduate students to design, implement, and optimize a thermal nuclear particle bed reactor engine in order to be used for Mars applications.- Created simulations and optimized the path from Earth and Mars using NASA’s GMAT and EMTG software. - Presented work to professionals in academia and industry at MIT’s Nuclear Science Research Expo

- Create a small scale free flying robotic system to be deployed inside the International Space Station to aid astronauts through the completion of tasks autonomously. Used as a STEM education platform as its predecessor SPHERES- Run the ISS and Astrobee simulation environment in RVIZ and Gazebo to carry out autonomous maneuvers using ROS commands to optimize a detumbling sequence between two Astrobee systems on board.

As a construction worker I'm tasked with laying tile, installing drywall, wiring home lighting, clearing out construction sites of debris, demolition, and other home repair and manual labor tasks. Through this job I have been able to practice my spanish as well as gain a strong understanding of various power tools, construction equipment, project management ,and work safety precautions.

Co-developer of the start-up app "PartyOn", a social network for students on university campuses. Built the platform using Android Studio, Java, Swift, and Amazon AWS Amplify. Product expected to release in September 2020.

I founded the chapter to promote Hispanic students to pursue technical degrees in STEM regardless of their backgrounds and discrimination. I’ve connected with national and regional representatives, forming connections with UCI’s and UCLA’s SHPE program and ultimately secured an invitation to the SOLES LeaderSHPE conference at UCLA.

Serve as president as well as mechanical, software, and business lead for my team. Through my experience, I’ve become fluent in Java, Robot C, Arduino C, and Python programming languages and have a background working with Fusion 360 CAD software and industrial machinery. I also established city support for the program after losing school district affiliation and was 1 of 10 students worldwide to recieve the FRC Dean's List Award.

Completed inspection reports and bubble prints for machined parts ordered by aerospace companies like SpaceX, NASA JPL, Virgin Galactic, and The Spaceship Company. I also performed a thorough inspection on very low tolerance precision parts, learning how to properly read blueprints and was educated on the Aerospace manufacturing process.