Planetary-Gear Yo-Yo
A 3:1:1 ring-planet-sun ratio lets the planets counter-spin as it unwinds.
RoboticsUpdated Oct 2026
Stuti Bhatia
Hi! I'm Stuti, a senior at UIUC studying mechanical engineering with a minor in computer science. I'm interested in hardware design and learning-based control for robots.
Most recently, I spent six months working at 1X, where I designed an autonomous data-collection robot and the rigs we tested our hardware on, including a foot durability cycler that has run millions of cycles and modular motor-dynos for all of Neo's stators.
At UIUC, I explored and benchmarked VIO systems and designed a glove controller for a new omnidirectional drone platform at Naira Hovakimyan's ACRL, led mechanical design for a room-sized cable robot at Andrew Singer's Augmented Listening Lab, and I'm now designing learning-based controllers for LEAP, a jumping robot built for Enceladus, at the Novel Mobile Robots Lab. I am also a Bain Capital Ventures Labs and Pear VC fellow.
Always happy to chat, reach me at bhatia.stuti@gmail.com :)
Selected work
- 1X TechnologiesAn autonomous data-collection robot, an accelerated life-test rig for the foot, and a reusable motor dynamometer fixture for actuator testing.~50% less manual labor2 rigs past 1M cycles each~3× cheaper per test
- Spider-BotA room-sized, 8-winch parallel-cable robot for acoustic data collection.CADFEAInverse kinematicsRapid prototypingFixturing & testing
- Glove ControlA wireless IMU glove for drone teleoperation, replacing a Vicon-bound setup.Embedded systemsSensor fusionROS / RViz3D printing
- Guppy GrubhubA two-legged, two-wheeled single-motor walker that dispenses snacks as it goes.4-bar kinematicsGait analysisGear train designPKMS+Laser cuttingDFM
- ThermaChillA neck-worn heating and cooling wearable, designed for injection molding.Injection moldingTolerance analysisDFMCost modelingThermal analysisNIST / ASHRAE
- Memory MapCamera-and-speaker spectacles that help geriatric patients recognize people and find their way.IEEE publicationIRIS Science Champion Award
Now
- Push-robust walking on the Booster K1A humanoid walking policy trained to recover from pushes, benchmarked in sim and on the real robot.In progressRL (PPO)mjlabSim-to-realPython
- LEAPA learning-based impedance controller for a jumping robot built for Enceladus.In progressImpedance controlLearning-based controlMuJoCoPythonC++
- Kachow (ME 371)A single-motor robot car with a multi-speed and reverse transmission, shifted by dog clutches.In progressTransmission designDog clutchesDFMEA
Smaller things
Whitworth Quick-Return
A 24-tooth crank drives a slotted rocker for 2.2:1 cut/return timing.
MixMaster Pro
Drink mixer and dispenser designed to be made entirely from PP and PET. ME270.