Hello, my name is Dawite Ewnetu and I am a
junior pursuing a dual degree in computer science, and mathematics. I worked
with Professor Daniel Lofaro during the Fall of 2014. I work in the Lofrao Labs
which is located
in the Engineering Building. I work on different assignments starting from
designing a floor model to using a 3D printer to print the parts of a robot. On
a daily bases, I meet with my mentor in order to discuss my current project,
and to understand my new upcoming assignment. Then, I gain a deeper
understanding through research, and then pursue the task at hand. Among many
others things, I truly enjoyed working with talented students. I had a
wonderful opportunity to gain knowledge from others which even included the
senior design team members. This experience gave me a chance to understand how
to work on research. I feel fortunate to work with Professor. Daniel. He helped
me understand how robots work together, the software that is used to do robot
simulations, and I learned about web-designed simulators. During a recent
conversation with Professor. Daniel, I was told that I am going to start
working on making a clone version of Minibot, which is the robot designed by
the senior design team. This assignment is going to help me be innovative in my
own research, which is something I am looking forward to. Initially, I started
working with OSCAR to learn how to create a robot, and thus far, I learned a
lot. Next semester, I am hoping to have my own mini robot that could be used
for a maze game system. In order for this goal to be fulfilled, I need to learn
different softwares, and robot simulation. The most important thing I learn
from working with OSCAR is, not to depend on others to learn about new discoveries.
I gain a deeper understanding from trying to solve and complete various
assignments by myself. Overall, I became more open to new ideas and, also
develop the strength to overcome obstacles that a startup researcher faces.
