Congratulations to Honor Student Noah Cisneros’s Graduation!

Congratulate to honors student Noah Cisneros on his gradulation and successfully completing his undergraduate thesis, “Motion Planning for Quadruped Robots in Harsh Environments.”

In his thesis, Noah explores how biologically inspired, “soft” movement can improve quadruped robot robustness in extreme conditions. Drawing inspiration from the fluid motion and landing mechanics of cats, he models key elements of cat locomotion—particularly the spine’s rotational dynamics and the legs’ mass–spring–damper impact absorption.

Using MuJoCo simulations and Python-based control scripts, his quadruped model demonstrates the ability to absorb impact energy during landing and then transition into stable forward walking without performance degradation after the fall.

This work highlights the potential of nature-inspired designs for robotics applications in unknown terrain navigation, including space exploration and other harsh-environment deployments. We wish Noah continued success in his next steps.