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Gillian R

- Research Program Mentor

Industry expert at Carnegie Mellon University

Expertise

Robotics, Computer Vision, Software Engineering, Arduino, Textile/Fiber Arts

Bio

I'm a computer scientist with a focus on robotics! My specialties include medical robotics, microcontrollers and embedded processors, and heterogeneous systems. In academia, I researched situational awareness for surgical robots, and in industry, I have created robotics-related language features for MATLAB and Simulink. I'm also a fiber and textile artist- I like to spin yarn, sew my own clothes, and make quilts. In my free time, I like to play video games and hang out with my pet bird and two cats.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Cooperation in multi-robot systems

What’s better than one robot? How about a bunch of robots working together! This field of research is known as “multi-robot systems” or “swarm robotics”- using a group or of coordinated robots to complete complex tasks. What are the benefits and challenges in coordinating a group of robots? For a group where all the robots are a single type vs. a group of multiple different types of robots, how do these considerations change, and how do they stay the same? This project will explore the current state of the art of multi-robot systems, compare the benefits and challenges of various robot systems, and make recommendations on their usage.

Houseplant Helper Robot

In this project, you will design an Arduino-based robot to help with the keeping of houseplants. By connecting different sensors to the Arduino, you can monitor plant conditions, such as soil moisture, sunlight, temperature, and more. After processing this data using the Arduino, plant conditions can be communicated via simple LED lights, LCD display, or even a webpage.

Coding skills

C++, Arduino, MATLAB, JavaScript, Python

Teaching experience

Software & Mechanical Engineering Mentor, Girls of Steel high school robotics team (2013-2015) Teaching Assistant for Functional Programming intro course at Carnegie Mellon University (2014-2016)

Credentials

Work experience

MathWorks (2016 - 2021)
Software Engineer

Education

Carnegie Mellon University
BS Bachelor of Science (2016)
Computer Science & Robotics

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