John Rippetoe is a robotics researcher and Ph.D. candidate at the University of South Florida’s computer engineering lab.
Rippetoe developed an interest in engineering early on while playing with Lego and video games.
“I am a computer engineer because I enjoy working with computers and programming and robotics and sort of all things like that,” said Rippetoe.
The lab he works in now is focused on robotics and has been rapidly growing. That is part of the reason why he decided to pick USF over other universities.
“I did my bachelor’s here as well. I started in 2009 and over those nine years, I have seen the program sort of explode,” said Rippetoe.
The engineering program has brought in new students and new professors from various fields and Rippetoe was immediately interested.
Engineers in Rippetoe’s lab are currently working on a project that involves teaching robots how to cook.
“The system I am working on is for legged robots, specifically biologically-inspired systems and how we can look at animals and look at how they solve problems of locomotion like walking over rough terrain,” said Rippetoe. “How can we take those solutions that they come up with and apply them to robotics?”
In this robot, a microprocessor is responsible for determining where the legs go and how fast they move.
“The most satisfying part of my job is building a product that makes people’s lives better,” said Rippetoe.
This story was created by USF student Nicholas Cunfer for Jeanette Abrahamsen’s Advanced Reporting class in 2019.
