People

Head of AMBER Lab

Dr. Aaron D. Ames

Aaron D. Ames is an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University. His research interests center around dynamical, control and hybrid systems, with a special emphasis on bipedal robots, behavior unique to hybrid systems, such as Zeno behavior, and the mathematical foundations of hybrid systems. Dr. Ames received a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a BA in Mathematics from the University of St. Thomas in 2001, and he received a MA in Mathematics and a PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from UC Berkeley in 2006. At UC Berkeley, he was the recipient of the 2005 Leon O. Chua Award for achievement in nonlinear science and the 2006 Bernard Friedman Memorial Prize in Applied Mathematics. Dr. Ames served as a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Control and Dynamical System Department at the California Institute of Technology from 2006 to 2008. In 2010 he received both the Norman Hackerman Award and the NSF CAREER award for his research on bipedal robotic walking and its applications to prosthetic devices.

Research Faculty

Dr. Benjamin Morris

Ben Morris is currently an Associate Research Engineer at Texas A&M University, with a full-time on-site appointment at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. Ben's work in the DARPA Robotics Challenge focuses on demonstrating how a biped robots can be used for search and rescue missions, for potential use in highly dangerous environments.

He received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in 2002 (with Highest Honors) and his MS and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering: Systems from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 2004 and 2008, respectively.

Graduate Students

Ryan W. Sinnet

Ryan W. Sinnet received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Caltech in 2007. He specialized in digital system design and modeling. He joined AMBER Lab at Texas A&M in 2008 and received his a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2011. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering as a Graduate Research Fellow of the National Science Foundation and works in the Systems and Control Division of the Department of Mechanical Engineering under the guidance of Dr. Aaron Ames. He specializes in nonlinear hybrid systems and control with a focus on bipedal walking. Sinnet has been recognized by Texas A&M Robotics for his outstanding student research and publications as well as by the Graduate Student Council for his contributions to international research.

Matthew Powell

Matthew J. Powell received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in August 2010. He is interested in anthropomorphically-inspired control of hybrid systems and application to prosthetic devices. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering under the guidance of Dr. Aaron Ames.

Shu Jiang

Shu Jiang received her B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Hefei University of Technology in 2005 and her M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2009. Her research interests focus on humanoid bipedal robot control and the application of biomechanics in bipedal robot gaits. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering under the guidance of Dr. Aaron Ames.

Shishir Nadubettu Yadukumar

Shishir N Y received his B Tech degree from National Institute of Technology, Karnataka in August 2008. He is interested in non-linear mechanical hybrid systems with particular emphasis on legged robots. He is currently pursuing his PhD under the guidance of Dr. Aaron Ames.

Huihua Zhao

Huihua Zhao received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering Department from the University of Science and Technology of China in July 2010. He is interested in human-inspired control of hybrid systems and the application to prosthetic devices. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering under the guidance of Dr. Aaron Ames.

Jordan Lack

Jordan Lack graduated from Oklahoma State University in December of 2010 with his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. He is interested in mechatronics, robotics, and anthropomorphically-inspired control of hybrid systems. He is currently pursuing his Masters in Mechanical Engineering.

Ayonga Hereid

Ayonga is currently a PhD student working on 3D bipedal locomotion.

Wenlong Ma

Wenlong is currently a Masters student working on realizing nonlinear controllers on AMBER 2.0.

Eric Cousineau

Eric Cousineau worked at AMBER Lab as an undergraduate student studying Mechanical Engineering. His interests are robotics, control systems, and software development. He graduated with his B.S. in December 2011. He joined AMBER Lab as a graduate student, and is now working with NASA on robotics.

Shawanee' Patrick

Shawanee' Patrick is working to receive her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering. She plans to graduate in May 2012. She has an interest in powered prosthetic and orthotic devices.

Carlos De la Guardia

Shao-Chen Hsu

Undergraduate Students

Michael Zeagler

Michael Zeagler is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering. While serving in the U.S. Army, he was inspired to return to school in order to study control systems and mechatronics, with a focus on powered exoskeletons and prosthetics. His expected graduation date is May 2013.

Former Students

Murali Pasupuleti

Murali graduated from NIT Warangal in May 2008 with B.Tech Degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering.Currently, he is pursuing his MS in Electrical Engineering. His research interests are in Non Linear Controls, Hybrid Systems and Digital Design.

Murali earned his masters degree in 2012.

Bhargav Kothapalli

Bhargav earned his Masters Degree in 2011.