Senthur Ayyappan, PhD Student @ Neurobionics Lab, U-M

Project Lead @ Open-Source Leg

An end-to-end open-source platform that makes prosthetics research more accessible.

I’m currently a PhD student in Robotics at the University of Michigan, working with Professor Elliott Rouse in the Neurobionics Lab. My research focuses on robot codesign: how a robot’s mechanical design and control policy can co-evolve inside simulation instead of being engineered one after the other.

Before starting the PhD, I spent 2021 to 2025 leading the Open-Source Leg ecosystem, developing its version 2.0 hardware and the software stack used by more than 25 research groups worldwide. My work has moved between hardware, simulation, and control—from powered prostheses and exoskeletons to ballbots and parametric CAD tools for robot simulation.

Research Intern @ DRDO | DEBEL

Worked on 2D modeling and simulation of a lower-limb powered exoskeleton

Research Intern @ IIT Madras

Developed a transformation-based approach to determine impedance parameters for teleoperated surgical robots

Consultant @ Robotics and AI Institute

Worked on co-design of the next-generation Ultra-Mobility Vehicle (UMV)

Team Lead @ Spider Tronix, NITT

Led a team of around 30 self-motivated undergraduate students working on various robotics and machine learning projects

CGPA: 8.44/10.0

BTech in Production Engineering with a minor degree in CS

Projects

Publications

Skills

Languages: Python, C++, Rust (Novice), JS, TSX, Bash

Simulation: Gazebo, MuJoCo, V-REP (now CoppeliaSim)

Design: Onshape, Solidworks, Fusion360, Blender