Guidelines for New Members

Welcome to the lab! I’m excited to have you on board as part of our research team.

Our lab explores a wide range of Robotics and AI challenges, with a particular emphasis on systems that operate in complex and often harsh environments. Our current themes include underwater robotics, agriculture robotics, and intelligent sensing systems. Each project combines theoretical exploration with hands-on experimentation. While your specific project may vary, the unifying theme is this: we build systems that sense, think, and act in the real world. This guide is here to help you navigate that journey.

What I Expect From You

I value students who take ownership of their work. Be proactive. Be curious. If you run into a wall, try to climb it — but also ask for help when you need it. Research is messy, and that’s part of the fun. I don’t expect perfection, but I do expect honesty, engagement, and steady progress. This isn’t just about following instructions. You’ll have room to make decisions, propose ideas, and explore directions. Think of your project as something you own — not just something you’re doing for someone else.

How We’ll Work Together

We’ll meet once a week as a full group, where you’ll give a short update on your progress, blockers, and next steps. I’ll also have regular office hours for one-on-one chats, feedback, or spontaneous brainstorming. In many cases, graduate students or more experienced researchers will be around to guide you too — use them!

Where You’re Headed

By the end of the summer, you’ll wrap up your work with a few important deliverables: • A final report written in IEEE conference style • A presentation to share your results • A poster summarizing your work visually • A GitHub repo documenting your code, hardware, or simulations This portfolio can be a launchpad for future research, internships, or even conference submissions — and it’s something you’ll be proud to show off.

Professionalism & Work Ethic

Being part of a research lab is not the same as taking a class. It’s more flexible, but it also demands maturity, initiative, and responsibility. Here are some expectations to help guide your approach this summer:

Time Commitment

You are expected to work full-time during the summer. That doesn’t mean rigid hours, but it does mean showing up consistently, putting in focused effort, and making steady progress week to week.

Communication

Keep everyone in the loop. Whether you’re ahead or stuck, make it easy for your teammates and mentors to support you. Reply to messages promptly, flag blockers early, and be clear in meetings.

Initiative & Independence

This is your project — you are the engine. Don’t wait to be told what to do next. Push things forward, explore ideas, and make decisions. If something isn’t clear, take a stab at figuring it out — then ask questions.

Professional Behavior

Be respectful, kind, and collaborative. Whether you’re working with other undergrads, graduate students, or outside partners, represent yourself and the lab well. Take feedback seriously and deliver it constructively.

Integrity

Research requires honesty. Always report results truthfully — including failures. Keep a clear, organized record of your work. If you use others’ ideas, tools, or code, cite and credit them properly.  

Research Mindset

You will not always having the right answer — but you should learn how to ask the right questions, how to think critically, and how to adapt when things don’t go as planned (which they often won’t!).

Be Curious

The best research begins with questions. If you’re wondering why, how, or what if, write it down and explore it. Curiosity is what leads to good ideas — and sometimes to the most unexpected results.

Embrace Uncertainty

You won’t always know what to do next. That’s okay. In fact, that’s normal. Get comfortable with not having a solution immediately — and use that discomfort to explore and test things.

Read, Reflect, Repeat

Papers, documentation, past reports — these are your friends. Learn to read critically and take notes. Try to connect what you’re reading to what you’re doing. And don’t worry if you don’t understand everything on the first read. That said, don’t overread. Leave room for your own exploration — even if others have already explored similar paths. Sometimes reinventing the wheel isn’t wasteful; it’s how you develop intuition and stumble onto new directions.

Iterate Early, Iterate Often

Get something working quickly, even if it’s rough. Test it. Learn from it. Improve it. Don’t aim for perfection from the start — aim for momentum.

Stay Rooted in Purpose

It’s easy to get lost in technical details — tuning parameters, fixing bugs, optimizing code. But never lose sight of the real-world problem your work is meant to address. Be obsessed with that problem. The goal is not to implement a PID controller or train a neural network — those are just the tools. Always ask yourself: Is this getting me closer to solving the problem that matters?  

Technical Work Guidelines

This section lays out expectations around how you approach the hands-on, technical side of your work — whether that’s writing code, building circuits, modeling systems, or collecting data in the field.

Write Code Like Someone Else Will Use It

Even if you’re the only one touching it, your code should be readable, modular, and well-commented. Use version control (Git) consistently, write README files, and commit often. If your work ends up helping future students, make sure it’s usable by them.

Design and Build Responsibly

Whether you’re prototyping PCBs, designing mechanical parts, or wiring up a sensor rig, be deliberate. Double-check power specs, avoid rushed hacks, and test in small steps. And if something doesn’t work, document what happened — that’s often more valuable than getting it right the first time.

Data and Experimentation

Collect data carefully. Label your logs. Back up your results. If you’re testing a system, define what success looks like, run repeated trials, and look for patterns. Use the Right Tools (and Learn Them Well) You might be working with MATLAB, Simulink, KiCad, Python, ROS, or embedded microcontrollers. If something is new, don’t panic — part of your job is to learn tools quickly and deeply. Ask for help, follow tutorials, and document what you learn for others.

Keep a Research Notebook

This can be physical or digital, but it should be regular. Log your goals, experiments, thoughts, setbacks, and questions. Don’t rely on your memory. This will also be helpful when writing your final report.