Our Mission

Through this research, we aim to raise awareness about the current existing and theoretical environmental applications of robotics technologies. By creating an online resource network, we can create a framework to systematically analyze the solutions developed through these robots and influence future research, innovations, and the scope of this growing field.

Who We Are

Alyssa Moore

Alyssa is a fourth-year student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute majoring in robotics engineering and minoring in computer science and mechanical engineering. She is also a peer mentor and a member of the WPI women’s club Ultimate Frisbee team. Post-graduation, Alyssa aspires to continue to work in the field of environmental robotics.

Maya Angeles

Maya is a third-year student at WPI working towards a degree in robotic engineering. Additionally, Maya works under WPI’s Office of Multicultural Affairs where she mentors freshmen students who are not represented in STEM. After graduation, Maya hopes to leverage her knowledge of robotics engineering in the fields of biomechanics or environmental engineering.

Berk Calli

Berk is an assistant professor in the Robotics Engineering Department and Computer Science Department of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). He leads the Manipulation and Environmental Robotics (MER) lab and focuses on identifying and investigating environmental research problems for
robotics. He also works on fundamental research questions regarding robotic manipulation and does research on robotic grasping, control of soft robots, active vision strategies, and within-hand manipulation. He facilitates performance quantification methods for robotic manipulation, and is a cofounder of Yale-CMU-Berkeley (YCB) benchmarking project, which provides a platform for the robotic manipulation community to develop shared benchmarking protocols. Prior to WPI, he was a post-doc in
Yale University Grab Lab, where he worked on vision-based dexterous manipulation with underactuated robot hands. He completed his PhD at Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands, where he worked on active sensing algorithms aimed at increasing success rates of robotic grasping algorithms. He had his MS and BS degrees in
Mechatronics Engineering Program of Sabanci University, Turkey.

Manipulation and Environmental
Robotics (MER) Lab

The MER Lab conducts research to identify environmental problems that robots can help solve and to develop solutions by addressing the missing manipulation capabilities of the robots.

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Public Interest Technology – University Network

The mission at PIT-UN is “to help advance the field of public interest technology to bring positive impact to communities around the globe. We focus on the university ecosystem since this is where talent, skills, and ideas are born. Through our network, challenge, and content, we empower PIT students, faculty, and practitioners to achieve their goals.”

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