Hello, I'm Vihaan.

Research & Experience

I have worked in two research labs at the University of Connecticut, contributing to Robotic Additive Manufacturing and Computational Biology.

Intelligent Systems and Control Lab, University of Connecticut (Feb 2023 – Present): Developed a digital twin platform for cooperative multi-robot additive manufacturing (AM) system using ROS. Integrated thermal and laser profiler data for spatio-temporal analysis of Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF). Isolated and corrected AM defects using a high-fidelity laser profiler. Designed part decomposition and interface algorithms for large-scale multi-robot cooperative printing.
Computational Biology Lab, University of Connecticut (May 2023 – Dec 2023): Benchmarked single-cell DNA sequencing methods, focusing on accuracy and efficiency of phylogeny inference. Analyzed tools like SIEVE, CellPhy, ScisTree, using diverse datasets simulated with CellCoal on HPC clusters. Identified gaps in current methods for modeling tumor evolution, enabling the lab to prioritize improvements in phylogenetic accuracy and computational efficiency.
NASA Big Idea Challenge 2022, University of Connecticut (Sep 2021 – Nov 2022): As Controls Lead, secured $150,000 grant as a finalist for designing a hybrid quadruped-tank robot for off-world locomotion. Presented at the NASA Big Idea Challenge Forum on hybrid tank-to-leg robots for lunar terrain. Led control system development, optimizing kinematics, inverse dynamics, gait trajectories, and stability using proportional control.

Here are some of the projects I've worked on during my studies and in my free time:

slic4r: The hardest project I've pursued to date. A next generation slic4r that can do general non-planar slicing.
Autocycle: An autonomous riderless bike.
Libra: Implemented control and reinforcement learning methods (e.g., direct collocation, direct multiple shooting, LQR, PPO, and SAC) in the MuJoCo physics engine for legged robots.
Autocycle: Converting a full-scale road bike into an autonomous riderless bike using monocular depth estimation.
NASA Big Idea Challenge: Finalist, secured $150,000 grant for hybrid quadruped-tank robot. Implemented controls and optimization for the quadruped.
Firefly: Won 2nd place at Hack4Delta 2023 for a wildfire early detection system using commercial airplanes as infrared aerial monitors.
ExtrudeEmbed: Designed a PID control system for a 3D printing extruder using bare-metal embedded AVR programming.
Quantum Error Correction: Wrote a report on holographic quantum error correction and AdS/CFT correspondence for my Quantum Computing Final Project, highlighting its applications to theoretical physics and quantum computing.
Form Correct: Push-up Form Feedback Generator: Built a multi-label classifier using the TimeSformer architecture for detecting push-up form defects.

I write about computer science, technology, and my experiences in the field. Below is a list of my recent blog posts:

Assisted in grading assignments, holding office hours, and mentoring students for the following courses: