The Multilegged Robots and Animal Motion (Mu-RoAM) team applies core principles of animal locomotion and distills their mathematical principles, and applies them to create advanced robot technology. The Mu-RoAM team will design and fabricate robots using computer vision and machine learning automation of the animal experiments. We will fold core mechanical and electronic technologies into novel robot designs.

Meeting time and location:
Our MDP team meets Wednesdays at 7:00 – 8:30pm ET, and additionally meet with their subteam for 30 minutes a week using video conferencing. Each subteam arranges a convenient time to meet and work together following university guidelines. A two-term commitment will begin January 2023.

Team organization:
The team will be split into four groups: Operations, Mechanics, Electronics, and Biology. Each of the four subteams has a student team leader that reports to and meets with the faculty PI and is coordinated by graduate students from the Bio-Inspired Robotics and Dynamical Systems (BIRDS) lab. The teams are flexibly structured to enhance creativity and opportunity for student growth.

First-year undergraduates through masters graduate students are welcome to apply, and all will be encouraged to stay on the team for more than the two-semester minimum. Leadership roles are available in the lab, and experienced students will be a natural fit for these positions as their knowledge grows over time.

Students apply to a specific role on the team as follows:

Operations Subteam (2 Students)

Specific Tasks: Running robots and performing robot experiments. Responsible for improving the operability and maintainability of the robots, performing robot experiments. Lead robot assembly and repair by working in conjunction with the Mechanics and Electronics subteams on transitioning those groups’ designs into manufacturing.

Likely Majors: Open to any U-M student, including non-engineering majors; advantage for industry experience, veterans, graduate students, Industrial and Operations Engineering (IOE), Computer Engineering (CE), Electrical Engineering (EE), Mechanical Engineering (ME),and Business majors.

Mechanics Subteam (3 Students)

Specific Tasks: Focus on mechanical design of robot parts, robot assemblies, and specialty equipment for robot and animal experiments. Our robots use unusual materials and novel design families that go far outside the norm of typical mechanical engineering. They will work with the Operations subteam on fabrication, assembly and repair of robots, and with the Biology subteam on construction and maintenance of animal experimental systems and equipment.

Likely Majors: Mechanical Engineering (ME), Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), Aerospace (AERO), Materials Science and Engineering (MSE), Architecture, Applied Physics; advantage having experience with AutoDesk tools, 3D printing, composites, soft materials.

Electronics Subteam (2 Students)

Specific Tasks: Electrical design, computing, sensing, and communications. We are a full stack shop, with work all the way from the lowest level hardware (analog circuit design; RF circuit design; FPGA, embedded programming, DSP), through intermediate soft real-time (image processing; control; communication protocol design), and up to the high level (Python; data sciences; machine learning). Electronics students will work with the Operations and Mechanics subteams on robot assembly and repair, and with the Biology subteam on computer vision and data processing to support animal experiments.

Likely Majors: Any engineering discipline and physical sciences (LSA); advantage for Electrical Engineering (EE), Computer Engineering (CE), Computer Science (All), Applied Physics, Applied Math, Data Sciences, Statistics

Biology Subteam (2 Students)

Specific Tasks: Manage animal support and care; design and conduct automated animal locomotion and behavior experiments. This work focuses on arthropod locomotion but may also include aquatic or semi-aquatic organisms. The experiments are primarily non-invasive, humane behavioral studies to learn how simple animals move through the world and interact with physical objects. The experimental setups require a great deal of specialized automation and data processing that will require the contribution of all other groups in the team.

Likely Majors: All science and engineering majors; advantage for Biology majors of all kinds, Kinesiologists, Biomedical Engineering (BME)

General Researcher (3 Students)

Specific Tasks: Interest in project material, willingness to develop skills. Open to first-and second-year undergraduate students ONLY.

Likely Majors: Any

Faculty Sponsor

Shai Revzen
Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering 

Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in the College of Engineering, and holds a courtesy faculty appointment in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts. He received his PhD in Integrative Biology doing research in the PolyPEDAL Lab at the University of California at Berkeley, and did his postdoctoral work in the GRASP Laboratory of the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to his academic work, Shai was Chief Architect R&D of the convergent systems division of Harmonic Lightwaves (HLIT), and a co-founder of Bio-Systems Analysis, a biomedical technology start-up.

For more information about BIRDS lab and our robots: www.birds.eecs.umich.edu

Students: 9 – 12

Likely Majors: AERO, ARCH, BIO, BME, BBA, CE, CEE, CS, EE, MATH, IOE, ME, MSE, DATA, STATS, Any ENG, Any Physical Science

Summer Opportunity: Summer research fellowships may be available for qualifying students

Citizenship Requirements: This project is open to all students on campus.

IP/NDA: Students who successfully match to this project team will be required to sign an Intellectual Property (IP) Agreement prior to participation in January 2023

Location: Some roles are available for remote participation, but in-person participation is strongly preferred for this team.

Course Substitutions: Honors

How to Apply: Full MDP project list & application information can be found herehttps://mdp.engin.umich.edu/how-to-apply/