Tufts alum builds unique robot

A Tufts School of Engineering education encourages students to pursue their passions. As a mechanical engineering undergraduate, Eric Wu, E21, engaged in several opportunities that fostered his technical skills and fueled his interest in robotics. Work experiences in the Center for Engineering Education and Outreach and Nolop FAST Facility gave Wu practical experience that shaped his path beyond Tufts. He recently built an innovative four-legged robot known as Q8bot. 

We spoke with Wu to learn more about his experience and how his time at Tufts paved the way for his current achievements. 

What is the Q8bot?

Q8bot is a quadruped (four-legged) robot that I designed and built as a passion project. It is a palm-sized robot dog that can be remotely controlled to perform dynamic, bio-inspired movement, such as walking and jumping. The robot is fully open-source, allowing anyone to build their own version or improve its design. I view Q8bot as a consolidated representation of all my skills and interests as a mechanical designer and hobbyist maker.

What is unique about your robot’s design?

The most unique aspect of my robot is its simplicity in construction. Normally, a walking robot dog with 8+ motors requires complex electronics design and careful wiring connections between components. Q8bot, however, is unique because it requires zero wires to build. Everything from the actuators to the batteries directly plug into the printed circuit board, which greatly reduces complexity, weight, and cost.

What are some possible applications for this robot?

I built Q8bot with the hope of transforming it into a reliable and low-cost robotics platform for college classrooms and research labs. Currently, the robot costs around $300 to build - which is only a fraction of other open-source quadruped platforms. Other possible applications include swarm robotics, which involves using many robots to coordinate movements and collectively achieve a task.

How did your Tufts experience impact where you are today?

As someone passionate about creating, I spent many hours at the Tufts Nolop Fast Facility. This experience had a profound influence on my journey. At Nolop, I quickly discovered the power of hands-on learning and utilized the available tools to build interesting robots and mechanisms. The practical knowledge and intuition I gathered while creating the projects proved to be extremely useful as I worked as a mechanical design engineer at Samsung Research America.

I also worked at Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach for most of my undergraduate study. I started by working on LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 tutorials for [Research Associate Professor] Ethan Danahy. Later, I joined [John R. Beaver Professor] Chris Rogers' lab, where I developed technologies for the LEGO robotics platform. Working on STEM education technology has made me more aware of the cost-to-build and parts availability aspects of my robot designs, as well as how they influence the accessibility of designs for others to build.

What advice would you give to someone studying engineering right now?

• Get hands-on experience whenever possible. Join a club, connect with fellow makers at Nolop, or simply start building something you find interesting.
• Even if your portfolio consists of mostly personal projects, you will still shine in front of potential employers as long as you show your passion in engineering through them.
• Knowledge from your courses is important. Don't get too caught up on grades and focus on understanding the concepts. There are many engineering problems that require more than good hands-on intuition to solve.
• Reach out to alumni who have experiences that interest you! Most of them, including myself, will be more than happy to chat with a fellow Jumbo.

Watch a video of the Q8bot in action.