This is the main apparatus I have been using in the lab to obtain 3D kinematics for sea stars.  

The acrylic tank has strips of LEDs taped to each side of the bottom platform. This design provides proper illumination of sea star tube feet and body for automated tracking. 

This is the side view of a sea star when the tube feet are coordinated while carrying a weight.

The tube feet of a sea star carrying a weight tracked autonomously with custom MATLAB code. 

Robot without centralized control exhibiting the bouncing gait due to synchronous feet. 

Sea star tube feet (visually enhanced with lasers) without mechanical interactions with a rigid substrate show coordination with respect to a light stimulus.

Prior to joining the McHenry Lab, I was an undergraduate researcher in the Biomechanics Lab of Professor Manny Azizi. After hours of viewing frogs jumping in videos, I became interested in how animals with a more dispersed nervous system are able to coordinate multiple components of their bodies for fluid motion. This is what led me to join the McHenry Lab to work on marine invertebrates such as sea stars.

Prior to joining the McHenry Lab, I was also an undergraduate researcher in Computational Molecular Biochemistry. Although I enjoyed quantifying the forces present in molecules as a way of rational drug design, I wanted to study subjects that are more tangible. I switched fields to animal biomechanics bringing with me the knowledge of computation.