This file contains the final reflection, abstract (as printed in the conference program), and conference poster associated with Anusha Datar's SAG award to present her work with Professor Samantha Michalka at the APA's Technology, Mind, and Society conference. Their poster explored the technical and practical feasibility and implications of augmented reality brain-computer interfaces.

Walking robots have advantages over their wheeled counterparts in their ability to climb and negotiate rough terrain. This property makes such robots well-suited to exploration of rocky environments such as the surface of Mars or an asteroid. Last semester, this research project began with the goal of developing a folding autonomous hexapod rover for exploring rocky environments. While last semester was devoted to building up a basic platform, this semester we focused on adding more advanced capabilities such as rough terrain traversal, obstacle detection, and custom electronics.

Whole Skin Locomotion (WSL) is a project that hopes to further the research of an interesting problem’s solution. The problem is, how to make a robot that is well suited for traversing tight spaces such as collapsed buildings or humane gastrointestinal tracts. By nature a wheel or tank tread rotates with the top and the bottom effectively going different directions. This can create dangerous and unstable conditions in confined spaces. Additionally wheels and tank treads can only use half of its available surface for forward motion. These are significant problems, and rich area for research. This semester I continued the WSL research project that had been started last semester. The base of this project was inspired by the movement of an amoeba, whose locomotion heavily depends pseudopods and cytoplasmic streaming. The endoplasm flows through the amoeba causing growth forward and away from the cell body. We aim to mimic this affect by creating the WSL robot’s forward motion from an inverting torus. As the torus inverts the entire exterior facing membrane moves in the same direction and returns though the center. This is contrary to a wheel or tank tread as we discussed earlier. WSL allows the robot to move in as long as the robot is in contact with the surface.

To support the design of a mechanism with two opposing, underactuated, multi-segmented feet that enables a small UAV to grasp and perch upon a branch or similar structure, a hybrid empirical-computational model has been developed that can be used to predict whether the mechanism can kinematically grasp structures with a range of cross-section shapes and sizes in various orientations and to quantify the forces exerted by the grasp. This research was presented at the ASME 2018 International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition (IMECE) with funding from a SAG award.

Before coming to Olin, I knew I wanted one thing with my education: I wanted to help people. I believe that empathy is a defining aspect of who I am, and I want to harness this part of me to make some sort of change (which is broad, I know). I wanted to use my time at Olin to develop and pursue my passions, or at least, discover what they are. Over my four years at Olin, I believe I have found those passions, which I can summarize into three main categories: healthcare, design, and education. The stories that define my Olin experience have characteristics of one (if not more) of these themes, which I believe will shape the way I help people after my college career. Olin has given me the tools to make a difference in these categories, which these stories capture.

During the summer leading up to my first year at Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, Alison Black, the Assistant Dean of Student Life, contacted all the incoming first-year students and requested that we each write a Statement of Interest that outlined what we wanted to accomplish when we got to Olin. My Statement of Interest outlined one dozen goals, eight of which are listed below: 1. Get Involved with leadership activities or student government 2. Help plan and organize school events 3. Volunteer with individuals with developmental disabilities 4. Work or volunteer with children 5. Take classes in business or management 6. Work on assistive technology 7. Have an internship ever summer (not always with the same company) 8. Get accepted into graduate school As I sat down to reflect on my Olin experience, I realized that much of it was summarized in the list above. I can honestly say that, with a few caveats, I reached and often exceeded all of the goals I outlined before I set foot on Olin’s Campus. In addition to reaching all of these goals, they all focused on a central theme: Engineering for Others. Below I break down the eight goals listed above and reflect on my experiences and how they all contributed to this central theme.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve found pleasure in making things. Things that moved, things that flashed, things that buzzed, things that whirred all have excited me to no end. I remember one of my first “inventions” was a handheld fan powered by an old electric toothbrush motor and a 9v battery. At the time, I did not understand the interworkings of the motor I was using, nor the chemistry of the battery, nor even how the shape of the propeller allowed it to move air. I did, however, understand what each piece did, and I found great pleasure in putting the pieces together to make something new. As I moved from grade school to junior high to high school, my knowledge of how things work grew, and with it grew my desire to make more things. When learning about kinematics in physics, my friend and I decided to build small coilguns using the circuits of discarded disposable cameras to see if the equations of motion worked out. Along the way, I unintentionally learned a lot about electricity and magnetism, RC circuits, and what a high voltage discharge across skin can feel like. Projects like this led me to be one of the founding members and vice president of my high school’s engineering club. I recognized that I not only did enjoyed making devices and contraptions, but I absorbed knowledge much more readily when I could use it to make something physical. For this reason, my choice to attend Olin College was a no-brainer. Olin’s focus on project-based learning and application driven education resonated with what I enjoyed, how I knew I absorbed information, and how I liked to apply myself. Through the whirlwind that has been my time at Olin, I have had the pleasure of taking part in many experiences that speak to the five curricular components of the Grand Challenge Scholars Program: a Grand Challenge Project, an Interdisciplinary Experience, an Entrepreneurial Experience, Global Awareness, and Service Learning. In this portfolio, I will be focusing a handful of projects and experiences that highlight these components of the program.

What drew me to Olin was the emphasis on learning through projects and experiences. Up until sixth grade, this was how I learned. In fact, the motto of my elementary school was “joyous work,” and after going to a more conventional high school that emphasized grades and test scores, I sought to return to this approach to learning. Learning through doing was surprising, challenging, and valuable for my growth as a person. Experiences that stand out are the failure of a website I tried to start for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered(LGBT) students and perception-expanding experience of studying abroad in Japan. I came into these experiences not entirely prepared, but in the process I learned how much I did not know. Coming out of these experiences, I continue to learn using the skills I acquired.

My grand challenge at Olin was shaped in three main areas. Long-term research in the biology lab, interdisciplinary learning through many classes, but in particular User Oriented Collaborative Design, and participation in the campus organization Engineering Discovery. Doing research and participating in clubs in addition to classes helped me get to know others in different disciplines and learn more about their solutions to problems. Another large component of my learning involved giving and receiving feedback, both from people outside of the Olin community and within. This double dose of feedback allowed me and my teammates to better understand the problems were trying to solve. To get this feedback, many presentations were done, which gave me the confidence to stand up and present my methods and results with conviction and certainty. Many class projects were team oriented, which allowed me to learn how to work well with others. I also did work on my own with guidance in research. Doing both of these things taught me to work independently but always take others advice and criticism into account. Overall, I believe Olin provided me with an engineering education that will allow me to understand and effectively communicate with people in many disciplines with a variety of educational backgrounds.

The first twenty-five years or so of the modern successful American life has been fairly well defined by the country’s education system. Go to primary school. Get good grades. Go to college. Get good grades. Graduate with a degree in something you love. Find a good job. Make money. As a child, I was well-aware of this system. From an early age I fully intended to go to college and major in something lucrative, my thinking shaped by years of advice from parents who managed start-ups, real estate, and stocks. Well before high school I began searching for a dream, trying to decide what I should spend the rest of my life doing. I was smart. I was good at math and science. I was also good at art, theater, writing, philosophy, and other subjects that would leave me with a job that wouldn’t make the expense of college worthwhile. I also enjoyed playing Roller Coaster Tycoon. So I decided to become an engineer. Since I also grew up constantly being reminded about the virtues of running your own business, I also decided to go someplace where I could study business and entrepreneurship. This ultimately led me to Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, a new engineering school near Boston that was on a mission to integrate entrepreneurial thought and action throughout its curriculum.