Prof. Matthew Spenko earned the B.S. degree cum laude in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University in 1999 and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2001 and 2005 respectively under in the Field and Space Robotics Laboratory. From 2005-007 he was an Intelligence Community postdoctoral fellow working at Stanford University in the Biomimetics and Dextrous Manipulation Laboratory. From 2007 to 2013 he was an assistant professor in the Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Department at the Illinois Institute of Technology. In 2013 he was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. In 2019 he was promoted to Professor.
If you are an IIT student, to book a meeting with Prof. Spenko, please use IIT's Google Calendar to find an available time or email mspenko@iit.edu. The lab is located at 10 W. 32nd St. RE-261, Chicago, IL 60616.
If you are an IIT student, to book a meeting with Prof. Spenko, please use IIT's Google Calendar to find an available time or email mspenko@iit.edu. The lab is located at 10 W. 32nd St. RE-261, Chicago, IL 60616.
Ph.D. Students
Yihe Chen is developing new methods to evaluate urban landscape design and its relationship to localization safety for self-driving cars
Shinsaku Kuwada is creating new methods to measure mobile robot localization integrity for multi-vehicle systems
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David Cañones Bonham is designing three-dimensional soft robots based on boundary-constrained swarms and running our Xprize Rainforest efforts.
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Undergraduate Researchers
Alumni
Ph.D. Students and Senior Research AssociatesDr. Koki Tanaka (2023) is working on the mechanical side of developing new types of soft robots.
Dr. Osama Abdul Hafez (2023) developed localization integrity methods for mobile robots to ensure safety in GNSS-denied environments. Dr. Amin Karimi (2022) designed, analyzed, and fabricated soft robots based on granular jamming. Dr. Vahid Alizadehyazdi developed dust mitigation techniques for electrostatic/gecko-like adhesives Dr. Aiva Simaite was a postdoc in 2017 and 2018 working on material characterization of gecko-like adhesives. Dr. Javid Mahmoudzadeh worked as a postdoc working on electrostatic adhesion. Dr. Mohammad Dadkhah Tehrani worked as a postdoc from 2014-2016 on mechanical grippers using electrostatic/gecko-like adhesives. After working in the RoboticsLab, he continued to work with our small business partner - Perception Robotics on the same project. Dr. Donald Ruffatto III received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2009, 2011, and 2015 respectively. He was awarded a 2011 NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship to support his Ph.D. work on unique attachment mechanisms for robotic climbing, gripping, and manipulator applications. Dr. Arash Kalantari finished his Phd in May 2015 on the HyTAQ and perching MAV. He joined Darqri as a Robotics Mechanical Engineer developing the Darqi smart helmet, an augmented reality wearable device after graduation. As of March, 2017 he is an Robotics Mechanical Engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Dr. Chenghui Nie completed his Phd work on the VIV and is currently working for himself at an import/export startup. Dr. Gareth Meirion-Griffith completed his PhD and a short postdoc in the robotics lab in 2012. His research was on the development of predictive mobility models for small-wheeled UGVs operating on deformable terrain. |
M.S. StudentsSydney Kaplan developed vision-based tracking algorithms for our soft robotics project as well as for our work in UAVs for tree science.
Marin Assaliyski received his M.S. thesis in May 2014 titled: Development of Active Response Technology for Safety Applications in Power Saws. He was sponsored by Bosch. He is currently working at a startup, Hummingbird Research Labs. Guillaume Hauschka received his M.S. in July 2010. He worked on the omnidirectional vehicle. Imad Khan completed his Masters Degree in 2009 on the omnidirectional vehicle. He is currently a Ph.D. student at Rensaleer Poly Tech. .Jainam Shah received his M.S. in 2013 working on the optimization of electrostatic adhesives for perching, climbing, and manipulation applications. |
B.S. StudentsJocelyn Mondragon
Otis Reale Kristen Such is an undergraduate at the University of Chicago who has been working on communication protocols for our soft robot work. Elizabeth McQueney worked on electrostatic/gecko-like adhesives for dust mitigation studies Brigitte Temple worked on several projects related to the HyTAQ robot and the electrostatic/gecko-like adhesives. She focuses on issues related to scalability in pad size. Laura Prout worked on visualization of lidar and vision data for use in characterizing navigation integrity for mobile robots Haosheng 'Nick' Li worked on a Unity simulation for evaluating navigation integrity in mobile robots. Karan Mahajan worked on visual tracking and control of micro air vehicles. Dzenis Begonovic ran experiments on the adhesive test bed Agata Ciesielski was an undergraduate student who helped out on a variety of projects. Robert Farmer worked on the suspension system of the omnidirectional vehicle Sophia Ghouse worked on a variety of projects in the lab. She is not a mission controller at NASA Adin Goings worked on a variety of projects in the lab Antonio Gonnella helped design the fluidized wheel terrain interaction testbed Manuel López was an undergraduate who worked on building some parts of the omnidirectional vehicle. Robert Meyer worked on controlled environment agriculture Jeff Mizek worked on active camouflage solutions. He is now a graduate student in the EE department at Purdue. Bart Partzalek worked on automation for controlled environment agriculture Efann Saung is responsible for developing the shape deposition manufacturing process. He also worked on developing new manufacturing techniques to optimize the shape of directional polymer stalks. He is now enjoying life in San Diego. Trevor Townsend worked on a variety of projects in the lab. David Wylen worked on the fluidized test bed |
Visiting Researchers and M.E StudentsJiahui Hu explored UAV sampling techniques in field environments.
Neda Karami Mohammadi worked on incorporating robot dynamics into navigation integrity algorithms Prof. Mehdi Modabberifar visited from Arak University in Iran. He worked on grippers using gecko-like and electrostatic adhesives in 2016 and 2017 Felipe Marques Farias Filho worked on the perching MAV testbed in the summer of 2016. Wellington Biing Jun Lee worked in the perching MAV testbed in the summer of 2016. Zhanyue "Jimmy" Zhao developed manufacturing methods for electrostatic/gecko-like adhesives Serge Detori worked on a variable stiffness fish fin Raul Obis worked on electrostatic attachment mechanisms and grippers Pilar Lopez Beneyto worked on the FEA analysis of suspension layers for compliant adhesives. Ran Chen helped program the VIV Ben Vancoillie completed his professional masters degree while working in the lab. Lin Sun completed her professional masters degree while working in the lab. Pavel Kukula was a visiting scholar from the Czech Republic. He worked on agility metrics for UGVs. Xavi Pacheco Corcho worked on the relationship between versatility and complexity in mobile robot design Bastien Loton was a visiting scholar from ENSEA (France) and worked on the Active Camouflage problem. Adrien Thryland was a visiting scholar who worked on the perching MAV problem. Matej Hraksa was a visiting Ph.D. student from the Czech Republic. He worked directional polymer stalks. Simo Cusi was a visiting Master's student from Barcelona. He was responsible for the initial experimental and simulation results of the VIV project. Cristina Guardia Asensio worked on multi-modal locomotion. Javier Marino Santana worked on multi-modal locomotion mechanisms. Pau Galindo worked on perching micro air vehicles Oliver Garez worked on the omnidirectional vehicle |