The Laboratory for Perceptual Robotics (LPR) works on a wide variety of robotics research problems and I have been fortunate enough to put my mark on many different projects. My mentor and lab director, Roderic Grupen, has encouraged me to investigate the many different corners of robotics.My main area of research has been in high performance robot path tracking (more details in projects below) but I have also worked on other projects in the lab such as harmonic function path planning, control basis frameworks, affordance models, basic CAD modeling, 3D printing, visual servoing, and repository management. Additionally, I also have been exposed to other areas of research that other members of the lab are currently pursuing such as integrated circuit design, computer vision, feature detection, dexterous mobility, localization, human robot interaction, and robot stroke therapy. I have also been a part of multiple outreach programs for the lab which include lab tours and giving uBot demonstrations.

Assisted with the transfer of technology that was developed by the Laboratory of Perceptual Robotics at UMass Amherst to NASA's Robonaut 2 platform. Technology included primitive motion controllers combined using a control basis framework [1], affordance based object models [2], and novel visual servoing techniques [3].[1] M. Huber, “A hybrid architecture for adaptive robot control,” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2000[2] Li Yang Ku, Shiraj Sen, Erik Learned-Miller and Rod Grupen. The Aspect Transition Graph: An Affordance-Based Model. Second Workshop on Affordances: Visual Perception of Affordances and Functional Visual Primitives for Scene Analysis, at the European Conference on Computer Vision. Zurich, Switzerland, September, 2014[3] Submission under review

Teacher Assistant for Roderic Grupen. Duties included grading projects and tests, producing homework assignments, preparing custom 2D dynamic robot simulator, and run the end of the semester robotic "pong" competition. Also gave three lectures on the basics of linear control theory and PD controllers.

Facilitate the integration of a new production line into the factory by generating new programs for production robots and developing a training course for factory workers. The course enables workers to perform basic maintenance in the absence of robot technician. Other duties include: existing robot program optimization, quality assurance studies, and developing standard procedure documentation.

Duties were dynamic and based on daily conditions and number of guests. All employees kept in close communication to make sure guest experience was excellent. Responsibilities included: pro shop salesman, cart service, bar-tending, cooking, and general grounds upkeep.

Helped deploy a new set of desktop computers for entire factory. Monitored company network for problems and irregularities using Fluke Network analysis tools. Responsible for daily maintenance tasks and support requests.