How to Contact

We are currently looking for highly motivated students to join our lab as UROPs. If you're interested, read the below project descriptions and then send an email to raphz@mit.edu and cc stef_k@mit.edu. In the email subject put AURA Lab Interested UROP and explain what you're interest in working on and what experience you have. We are generally looking for students with strong mechanical design background who are 2nd year or above. Skills from classes like 2.007 will translate here.

Note: AI-generated emails paraphrasing the lab's ideas will not get significant attention.

Projects

Bio-Inspired Robot Design

Flapping wing robots have the potential to be more maneuverable and efficient than quadrotor drones. Further, our group is interested in their uses in underwater sampling and exploration. The parameter space of these robots is highly underexplored, and so we're interested in finding more optimal configurations for these robots. We're looking for highly motivated students interested looking to tackle tough challenges in the following areas:

• Design and manufacturing of flapping wing robots
• Integration of new flapping wing mechanisms into robot chassis
• Waterproofing and lightweighting of the system
• System validation and characterization

Environmental DNA Sampling

Environmental DNA sampling is a technology that enables biologists to measure the presence and concentration of marine organisms in an area without invasive techniques like nets. Our lab is hoping to take filtered water samples using a highly efficient hydrofoil robot to enable low cost and repeatable eDNA sampling. We're looking for motivated students interested in taking on projects in one (or more) of the following areas:

• Design and manufacturing of a fluidic system for taking eDNA samples
• Integration of the fluidic system into the hydrofoil robot
• Improvement of the electrical system driving the sampler
• Experimental design and validation of sample quality