2025 TTIC Summer Robotics Interns Presentation
Friday August 1
Room 530, TTIC
Autonomous Robotics IMmersions!
Interns were embedded for six weeks in the RIPL robotics lab at TTIC.
Interns took a hands-on approach to learning the fundamentals of robotics, computer science, and AI.
Interns built robotic arms and programmed them to play tic-tac-toe and connect four.
Mentors!
Mike
Rodgers
CPS
Teacher
Matthew
Jeung
4th year
Undergrad
Justin
Chan
2nd year
Undergrad
Nina
Lewis
1st year
Undergrad
Meet the Interns: Jayla McGraw!
Name: Jayla McGraw
Age: 18
School: Xavier university of Louisiana (XULA)
Major: Computer Science
Interests/hobbies: Cooking, shopping, bowling & spending time with family and friends
Meet the Interns: Alexandria Ho!
Name: Alexandria Ho
Age: 17
School: Harold Washington College
Major: Computer Science
Interests: Art, reading
Meet the Interns: Fatmata Bah!
Name: Fatmata J Bah
Age: 17
School: Hyde Park Academy
Interests: I like to watch movies, spend time with my family, explore, have adventures, and play sports, especially badminton.
Future Career: Majoring in Nursing to become a labor and delivery nurse and then a doctor specializing in OB/GYN.
Meet the Interns: Ali Muhammad!
Name: Ali Muhammad
Age: 15
School: Kenwood Academy High School
Future Major: Mechanical Engineering
Interests: I like sports (mainly tennis and watching football), being in nature, and gaming!
ARM Interns in the RIPL Lab!
Software!
Github | Repository |
Onshape | 3D modeling |
VS Code | Python coding |
Ubuntu Linux | OS for our laptops |
Ultimaker Cura | 3D slicing & printing |
Dynamixel | Motors |
Slack | Communication |
Hardware (Arm Designs)!
Follower Arm Leader Arm
https://github.com/AlexanderKoch-Koch/low_cost_robot
Hardware (Arms Built)!
Follower Arm Leader Arm
Hardware (Motors)!
Large Motor (2) Small Motor (4)
Hardware (Electronics)!
Serial Controller Voltage Reducer
Hardware (3D printed parts)!
Mentors printed
most of the
parts for
the arms.
Hardware (Customizations)!
Interns used onshape to
modify the movable gripper.
Robot Arms!
Record Positions!
Using the leader arms, interns recorded positions
for their follower arm:
Hover: Above the piece that the arm will pick up
Pre-grasp: At the piece, ready to grip it
Grasp: With the claw closed, holding the piece
Post-grasp: After letting go of the piece
Each position saved the angle values of all 6 motors.
Python Programs!
In total we wrote about 16 different programs! Some notable programs include:
Program: Guess My Number!
For Guess my Number, when the computer plays the user we programmed it to constantly add or subtract halfway from each guess to figure out our number.
When playing the computer it uses the “random” import to pick any number between 1-100.
Program: Pig!
Pig is a game of chance and strategy.
Program: Rock, Paper, Scissors!
Program: Pop the Balloon!
Program: Treasure Race!
We used https://www.piskelapp.com/ and https://www.photopea.com/
Program: Original Tic Tac Toe!
Program: Tic Tac Toe Graphics!
Program: Hangman!
Program: Periodic Table Quiz!
Program: State Capital Quiz!
Minimax Algorithm for Tic-Tac-Toe!
Minimax is a computing algorithm for two player games that chooses the best method for playing.
Human: 〇
Computer: X
Program: T.T.T Graphics vs. Computer!
We created our own graphics for our Tic Tac Toe game using shapes in google slides and then using photopea to remove the background.
Our program incorporates the minimax algorithm and actively tries to stop you from winning.
Computer Vision for Tic-Tac-Toe!
Tic-Tac-Toe with Computer Vision!
The camera sees when a play is made.
Then the computer responds on its own, with the minimax algorithm.
Program: Connect 4!
Minimax
For
Connect 4!
def utility():
human_count3 = count_sequence(players[0],3)
human_count2 = count_sequence(players[0],2)
ai_count3 = count_sequence(players[1],3)
ai_count2 = count_sequence(players[1],2)
human_score=1000*human_count3+100*human_count2
ai_score=1000*ai_count3+100*ai_count2
return ai_score - human_score
c.f. https://github.com/AbdallahReda/Connect4
Win → ∞
Loss → -∞
Tie → 0
Depth = 4 → utility()
Comings and Goings!
Welcoming Visitors!
Having Adventures!
University of Chicago Campus!
McDonald's HQ!
Argonne National Laboratory!
Blackstone Bicycle Works!
Host: Matt Walter & ARM Interns
Lincoln Park Zoo!
Jackson Park Campers!
Youth
Internship
Program!
Hosts: Jingtian Ji, Teddy Ayalew & the ARM Summer Interns
Carillon Tour (Rockefeller Chapel)!
Japanese Garden!
Bowling at Pinstripes!
Jayla’s favorites and takeaways!
My favorite program written was “Treasure” because we were given the creative liberty to create the characters ourselves.
I rate my internship at TTIC 10/10! I was able to get a much deeper understanding of python.
With the help of my fellow interns as well as Dr. Rodgers, I was able to learn many new things. I was introduced to new tools like dictionaries & slicing which help programmers condense codes, so that they don’t have to constantly repeat the same code.
Ultimately, due to my experience this summer I’ve learned skills that I will be able to take with me on my adventure to becoming a computer scientist!
Alex’s favorites and takeaways!
I enjoyed being able to see the results of our work. It felt nice seeing that after many mishaps and errors, in the end, the games play as intended, and our robot arms were able to function and move correctly. My favorite game that we programmed is hangman or Connect 4.
This internship helped me review concepts that I’ve practiced before but needed to retouch on, and I also learned new aspects of programming as well.
Fatmata’s favorites and takeaways!
My Takeaways
My Favorites
Ali’s favorites and takeaways!
Working on the actual arms was an amazing experience. I really enjoyed seeing them come to life before my eyes, even if things went wrong (which happens quite often). I learned a lot of new things about Python like using dictionaries and slicing.
I also enjoyed our outings to really cool places like Rockefeller Chapel for the Carillon Tour. Rose made sure we got to do fun things in addition to work since most of the time we’re sitting in front of a computer.
Thank you!
Thank you to our mentors for their instruction, guidance, and leadership.
Thank you to all the researchers in the RIPL lab and everyone at TTIC for welcoming us.
Thank you to Jingyan Wang and David Yunis for the “Lunch and Learn” presentations and discussions.
Thank you to Rose Bradford, Brandie Jones, Randy Landsberg, and Matt Walter for this awesome internship program.