Senior Design Project - Boston Dynamics SPOT
Winter Term Contributions
Designed an evaluation and feedback framework success metrics for community-robot interaction.
Led public deployments of Spot, hosting on-campus demonstrations and collecting baseline survey and observational data on community perceptions of the robot.
Collaborated with Dartmouth stakeholders and Boston Dynamics experts to align technical design decisions with real-world operational constraints, safety considerations, and human-centered interaction goals.
Spring Term Contributions (Planned)
Support development of follow-me and socially aware motion behaviors, incorporating proxemics to enable safe, intuitive guidance in shared public spaces.
Coordinate and test real-world deployments in library and campus environments, managing testing logistics and data collection.
Debug and harden deployment-level systems, addressing sensing reliability, end-to-end latency, and autonomy robustness to ensure safe, repeatable public operation.
A voice-interactive, autonomous quadruped robot that explores how expressive behavior, safe navigation, and intuitive interaction can enable robots to operate meaningfully in public, human-centered environments.
Overview:
This senior design project reimagines Boston Dynamics’ Spot not as an industrial inspection robot, but as a public-facing, socially capable campus ambassador for Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering.
Rather than focusing solely on autonomy or perception in isolation, the project centers on community-robot interaction (CRI) — designing robotic behaviors that are legible, predictable, safe, and emotionally comfortable for people in shared spaces such as engineering buildings, libraries, and campus events.
Spot is being developed to operate in three real-world roles:
Thayer Ambassador– leading guided tours of engineering spaces
Library Study Buddy– serving as a calm, approachable presence in study areas
Community Liaison – engaging students, alumni, and visitors at campus events
That’s me!