HardwareBEng dissertation · solo · 2025-26
MRV: Monopedal Reconnaissance Vehicle
A one-legged jumping robot for low-gravity exploration, stabilised by two inertial actuators. Self-proposed; I designed every mechanical part, the 4-layer PCB and the Teensy C++ firmware (120 Hz sensor fusion, independent 1 kHz safety interrupt).
- Five revisions of the spring release mechanism; asymmetric ratchet wedge stored 38% more energy per cycle.
- Root-caused a 43% launch failure rate to a cam concentricity offset.
- CAD, firmware and BOM open under MIT licence.
41 cmmean jump at 360 g
67.8%elastic to potential energy
12.7°attitude recovery
£286of £300 budget
github.com/termvato/MRV →
Robot learningOct 2026
Phone-to-robot imitation learning
iPhone LiDAR recordings of my hand turned into robot demonstrations in LIBERO: hand tracking, metric 3D lifting, grasp-anchored retargeting and a demo multiplier.
41%ACT from 3 phone takes (92% scripted)
3/4pre-registered world-model tests passed
Code →
3D perceptionOct 2026
3D room change detection
Two phone videos in; moved, added and removed objects out, named, with ROS occupancy maps. Hosted GPU web app on Modal.
2.4→18.0AP with free-space voxel carving
21.4typed AP vs 15.8 SceneDiff (ECCV 2026)
Code →
ControlOct 2026
Reaction-wheel pendulum: LQR vs PPO
Isaac Sim plant, LQR as a ROS 2 node, PPO trained in Isaac Lab as a drop-in replacement. A linear program over all torque sequences proved no controller beats 7.47°; both reached 7.45°.
Code →
Medical deviceTeam of 5
Cannulation trainer
Forearm simulator for dialysis nurses on a £200 budget. I owned the flesh analogue: silicone matched to forearm Shore hardness, vein found by touch, replaceable vein. Chosen best of five teams by the nurses.