Projects:  [top]

• Penn: Robotics research in the GRASP Lab
  My research under Dan Lee involves robots that use computer vision to understand the properties of objects in their environment.
  
  
  • Manip
    The Manip project is kinematic learning for robots: from 3D camera input, our algorithm will discover the structure of objects with moving parts.
    
    
  • DARPA Robotics Challenge
    I assisted Team THOR near the end of the 2013 DRC. In a "dress rehearsal" setting at Virginia Tech, we built a replica of most of the challenge tasks, and fine-tuned our strategy and equipment.
    
    
  • SEPTAudio
    We are collaborating with SEPTA on a solution to the problem of collision detection for buses. The full system will include sensor fusion to determine when a bus is turning a corner, laser scanning to detect pedestrians in danger, and a targeted audio warning system.
    
    
• Personal
  
  
  • "Hall Monitor" Android app
    Hall Monitor is a work-in-progress driver app for the Samsung Galaxy S4 (and S4 mini) to support the S View cover under alternative ROMs (like CyanogenMod).
    
    
  • Pollio
    Pollio is a (very incomplete) social polling app for Android phones, developed at the PennApps Fall 2013 hackathon by "Dumbledore's Army" (myself, Joe Trovato, Ellie Pavlick and Alex Salz). Maybe we'll finish it someday.
    
    
  • MSP430 "Launchpad II"
    I have several (slowly...) ongoing projects with the MSP430 Launchpad development platform, including making a retro-style tiny computer, and writing an instruction-level simulator.
    
    
• Swarthmore
  
  
  • Senior Design Project: Snitchcopter
    With David Saltzman, I built and programmed a quadcopter from scratch for my engineering senior design project. It almost worked, too! Our inspiration was the Quidditch Snitch.
    
    Seth Foster and I did a related project on simulated quadcopters learning to fly in an Adaptive Robotics class. They proved to be difficult students.
    
    
  • Trashmower (temporary name)
    Android app for Swarthmore students
    
    
  • Diagramr (source)
    web development project for Prof. Siddiqui's Mechanics of Solids class
    fall 2011
    
    
  • VEP online auction
    web development to support fundraising for the Village Education Project
    
    
  • Concierge, an online reservation system
    project for the Swarthmore College Computing Society

Publications:  [top]

• Vision-Based Localization for Mobile Robots
  research performed in Prof. Matt Zucker's mobile robotics lab at Swarthmore College
  summer 2011
  
  
• Non-linear transmittance properties of dielectric slab waveguides
  research performed in Prof. Lynne Molter's laser lab at Swarthmore College
  summer 2009
  
  
• Numerical simulation of loosely coupled circular waveguide arrays
  research performed in Prof. Lynne Molter's laser lab at Swarthmore College
  summer 2009

People:  [top]

These are some people who I've gotten to know personally and academically, and they're awesome.

• Andreas Bastian - engineer, artist, and additive manufacturing wizard, previously at Makerbot Industries - website, tumblr.
  
  
• Julian Leland - mechanical engineer, musician, rugby player, currently at Barrett Technology - website.
  
  
• Seth Foster - electromechanical engineer, rugby player, currently at Makerbot Industries - blog.