Andrew Lynch...

Andrew Gets Flying Lessons at Harvey Rinn

There seems to be quite a few coops here at NASA-JSC. Each have their own unique interests and hobbies. Robotics definitely seems to be on the list of a few coops as a full time hobby. In my case, a high school program called FIRST pulled me into technology (A.K.A. “robotics”) . From there that has affected every decision I’ve made down the road. As an undergrad, I have been very fascinated with the undergrad robotics group (R.A.S.) and the graduate robotics research programs (Robocup, RR and Intelligent Mobile labs). The ARSD division at JSC had many great programs which motivated my application. After in depth reading on Robonaut and Mini-Aercam, my curiosity on the projects augmented my goal to coop for JSC. However I did keep my options open to many different opportunities before I finalized by choice with JSC. From studying by industry offers (LM, NI, Intel), I realized JSC had a much more diverse business with options to move around to completely different areas.

Working on the Utah/MIT Hand

Anyway, at the beginning of my first coop term, I knew the job choice was perfect for my interests. If you are aware of FIRST robotics, then you might know about team 118 the robonauts!!! This was an outreach activity I helped out with for the first 6 weeks (and some) of my term which was an amazing experience. The build season taught a great lesson on a NASA project full cycle (design, build, test, compete). Many engineers (including programmers) will never see the “closed loop” and therefore may not understand the long-term decisions. As an engineering mentor for 118, I began to see the connections between working with a fast paced well rounded team. No matter where you are working, joining FIRST is an eye-opening experience to see co-workers who are really passionate about technology. The FIRST aspiration has become a major part of my life and working with others from ER-4 has been a great honor. Not to mention, the team won two regionals and chairman’s award (LS)…with nationals on the horizon!!!

But back to my real job, I have learned a tremendous amount about humanoid robotics and software simulation. While working on robotic hand grasping, I have been exposed to tactile sensors, mechanical hand design and dynamic interaction simulations. In my first term, I helped design/test a current muxing sensor board, incorporated capacitive sensing on the Utah/MIT hand, wrote controllers for GraspIT and explored the Robonaut API/RoboSim. I have also sharpened my skills on scripting (python/bash), TRICK ( http://hedgehog.jsc.nasa.gov ) and programming micros(PIC, Atmel, FPGA and gumstix). The experience has brought me years ahead of my initial understanding of robotics. If you want more detail about my projects or the robotics division of JSC. Check out these links,