Casper Muter

At Biotex, I help develop and test a wearable helmet that uses rotating permanent magnets to produce oscillating magnetic fields. The device is being studied as a possible treatment for glioblastoma.

My work includes mechanical design, building prototypes, fitting components, checking tolerances, and bench testing. I help investigate vibration and noise from the rotating assemblies and test design changes to improve reliability and comfort.

At Boston University’s Material Robotics Lab, I helped build and test a soft robotic sleeve for a standard colonoscope. Optical sensors in the sleeve monitor bending and estimate contact forces. Pneumatic actuators inflate to spread pressure over a larger area.

I fabricated silicone devices with optical waveguides, pneumatic channels, fabric reinforcement, and optical fibers. I also helped assemble the optical circuitry and portable control box and calibrated the sensors.

I participated in testing with bovine colon tissue and a colonoscopy simulator. The team later evaluated the device in animal studies and published the work in npj Robotics.

At Boston University’s Morphable Biorobotics Lab, I fabricated stacked balloon actuators by heat pressing layers of thermoplastic polyurethane. The actuators expand when pressurized.

I helped add nylon mesh and heat sealable nylon taffeta to strengthen the actuators and reduce buckling. My work involved preparing materials, laser cutting, aligning layers, and adjusting the heat pressing process to produce airtight bonds.

I also helped test the actuators with an Instron system, analyze results in MATLAB, and run experiments above and below water. The actuators were used in a soft robot that could support weight and change shape to move through tight spaces.

At Biotex, I supported Redpoint, a laboratory instrument that uses laser detection and capillary separation to analyze small samples without molecular labels.

I worked on the capillary interface and parts that hold the capillary in position. One design used a small snap fit to simplify assembly while keeping the connection secure.

I also helped test and troubleshoot the instrument, looking at how alignment, tolerances, and part geometry affected optical performance.

For a medical robotics course at Boston University, my team built a soft glove to assist finger movement during hand rehabilitation. Cables pull the fingers into flexion while the flexible glove adapts to the hand.

I helped design, fabricate, assemble, and test the prototype. We used 3D printed molds, cable guides, servo driven spools, and an actuation assembly mounted at the wrist. We also developed a grasping exercise that used pressure measurements to track performance.

For Boston University’s Soft Robotics course, my team built a silicone starfish robot for a competition based on the RoboSoft challenges. It used pneumatic legs and bellows to move, with a granular jamming grasper to pick up objects.

I led much of the mechanical design, fabrication, and assembly. I designed molds in SolidWorks, cast and bonded the silicone parts, added layers to limit stretching, and routed and sealed the pneumatic lines. I also tested changes to the leg shape, friction materials, and gait.

The robot could crawl, grasp objects of different sizes, and withstand drops of up to two meters.

For a graduate project at Boston University, I helped develop CocoBot, a robot intended to locate and harvest coconuts. It combined YOLOv5 object detection, an Intel RealSense depth camera, and a robotic arm with six degrees of freedom.

I helped integrate and test object detection, depth measurements, coordinate transformations, inverse kinematics, and arm control. The system located coconuts in 3D and moved the arm toward a selected target.

For my senior capstone at the University of Hartford, I helped redesign HARQ, a remotely operated quadruped intended to carry food and medicine to isolated hospital patients.

I modeled a new frame in SolidWorks, helped modify the aluminum structure and motor orientation, and developed 3D printed joints and feet. I also helped assemble the robot and test its stability. After several changes to the mechanics and motion control, the robot could walk on battery power while carrying its intended payload.

For an automation project at the University of Hartford, I helped build a workcell with an Epson T3 SCARA robot and two conveyors. A vacuum tool moved and stacked parts, while a CLICK PLC coordinated the robot and conveyors.

I worked on PLC ladder logic, HMI programming, wiring, robot point teaching, and SPEL programming. The finished system coordinated its sensors, conveyors, and robot to repeat the material handling sequence.

For a cyber physical systems project at Boston University, my team built a mobile robot that could find, retrieve, and return a ball. It used color detection to locate the ball, LiDAR to avoid obstacles, and a state machine to control its movements.

I worked on the retrieval hardware. I designed scooping concepts in CAD, evaluated actuators, and prototyped an electromagnet pickup mechanism for the robot.

For an independent study at the University of Hartford, I built a system that detected yellow objects on a small conveyor. A Logitech webcam and Raspberry Pi 4B ran OpenCV, and an LED switched on when the target color was detected.

I adjusted the detection code, connected the LED through the Raspberry Pi’s GPIO, and designed a camera bracket in SolidWorks for 3D printing. I tested different bracket heights and camera positions to improve detection.

During my 2022 engineering internship at Kaman, I modeled the fixture in Siemens NX, chose and ordered components, and made drawings for the custom parts. I also helped fabricate and assemble it, then worked through issues during testing.

The video shows the fixture in use.