I am passionate about robotics because it helps you solve interesting problems that have a real world application. After my Mechanical Engineering bachelor's degree, I wanted to continue in Control, because I find it an interesting field. Only, sometimes control subjects tend to be rather abstract for me, while I like to see a clear application as well. In that respect, Robotics is a good combination of challenge and concrete problems for me.
During my master, I did my graduation project at Philips. I investigated how to make existing Image-Guided Therapy robots safer and more intuitive. Currently, doctors control large robots in operating rooms using a joystick. This already works well, but robots can still collide with people and objects present in the room. I researched how to combine doctors' input via the joystick with automatic obstacle avoidance, by bringing both objectives together in a control algorithm. We tested my solution using a virtual reality setup of an operating room.
I really enjoyed graduating at a large and well-known company, and being able to take a look at the workplace. I found the topic so interesting that I wanted to continue with this during my PhD! I hope that my solution will make it easier for doctors in hospitals to control robots and thus perform operations faster and more precisely. Patients will then be helped better and be able to rehabilitate faster.
The university gives you a lot of freedom and opportunities to develop outside your studies. I did a part-time board year with the a student team, went on an internship to Sweden, and helped friends set up a start-up. My education has prepared me well for the future as the faculty collaborates a lot with companies in the Brainport area