Pushing Robotics Uphill

CMU senior programs robots to surpass obstacles. On a picturesque fall day on Flagstaff Hill next to Carnegie Mellon University , leaves carpet the ground and the sun shines bright in the sky. Up the hill, a group of friends throws a frisbee back and forth. And off a paved walking trail along the edge of the park, a four-legged Minitaur robot the size and shape of a briefcase with legs tries to surmount a series of rocks. Vinay Mitta, a Carnegie Mellon senior majoring in mechanical engineering with a minor in robotics , controls the robot and studies its movements. Mitta spent last summer researching dynamic obstacle clearance behaviors for legged robotics for Aaron Johnson's Robomechanics Lab in the College of Engineering. Mitta received a $3,500 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship to pursue the topic.