MIT RAMAN LAB: PETRI DISH GANTRY
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH INTERNSHIP
SPRING 2026
SPRING 2026
During my Spring 2026 UROP at the MIT Raman Lab, I developed an automated polar gantry system to advance research in optogenetic biohybrid robotics. I engineered a custom 3D-printed mechanical setup for a 135mm petri dish and built an integrated electrical and firmware stack utilizing a Raspberry Pi and Arduino. To automate the light stimulation process, I implemented an OpenCV object detection pipeline that maps the robot's position to real-world coordinates and drives the system's stepper and servo motors. This work established a fully independent hardware and software proof-of-concept which will be used to precisely target and actuate specific limbs on the biohybrid robots.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Software and Computer Vision: Python, OpenCV, C++, Coordinate Transformation Mapping, Motor Control Algorithms
Hardware and Mechanical Engineering: 3D Printing (CAD & Fabrication), Raspberry Pi, Arduino, Stepper and Servo Motor Integration, Electrical Prototyping, Gantry System Design
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