Ph.D. Student at Caltech and NSF Graduate Research Fellow.
About
I am a Ph.D. student at the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories of the California Institute of Technology (GALCIT), advised by Professor Soon-Jo Chung. I am broadly interested in multi-agent robotics applied to aerospace systems. Currently, my research focuses on developing a decentralized, scalable estimation algorithms for formation flying spacecraft. I am a fellow of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program and he is also affiliated with the Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies (CAST) and the Keck Institute of Space Studies (KISS). I graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and worked at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a Guidance and Control Analysis Engineer prior to coming to Caltech.
In spare time, I enjoy playing ping pong, training for triathlon, and cooking.
My Passions
Robotics Research
I use mathematical tools such as nonlinear controls, graph theory, and probability to design and analyze autonomous algorithms for aerospace systems. My previous work includes precise spacecraft formation flying in planetary orbits and distributed estimation of large-scale multi-agent systems.
Space Exploration
My life-long passion for space technology and exploration is deeply rooted in rather simple questions: How did the cosmos begin? Are we alone in the universe? I enjoy every opportunity to discuss with others about the wonders of this universe and the exciting technological progress that we are making to answer some of the fundamental questions.
Outreach
As a graduate student in STEM, I appreciate the opportunities to tutor local high school students and mentor undergraduate researchers. As a Japanese-American immigrant, I also coach Japanese-American students on strategies for a successful study abroad.
Research Questions
A precise formation keeping of multiple spacecraft in planetary orbit requires continuous fuel consumption. What are the fundamental trade-offs between control precision, sensor precision, and fuel consumption?
We provide an analytical approach to quickly quantify the fundamental limit of the controls and estimation trade-offs.
We envision that there are new exciting science missions that can be enabled through tens or hundreds of spacecraft flying in formation. How does a swarm of spacecraft estimate its formation in an adaptive and scalable manner?
We provide a decentralized, robust algorithm for multi-agent localization and experiment results in spacecraft simulator.
Outreach Activities
Here are some outreach and leadership activities that I am involved in.
Caltech Y Rise Tutoring
Through the Rise Tutoring Program, Caltech students tutor the local high school students in STEM courses and teach studying strategies. Tutoring has different set of challenges from university teaching: finding relatable analogies and adapting teaching strategies depending on the students. When the students understand concepts, they have a big smile that cannot be traded for anything. That keeps me going.
Social Activism Speaker Series
As a committe member of the SASS at Caltech Y, I help organize guest lectures on social and political issues and science policy. Our topics range from climate change, housing crisis, history of autonomous system, and space policy.
Japan-U.S. Study Abroad
Since I moved to the U.S. in high school, I have helped other aspiring-to-be exchange students from Japan on any topics related to study abroad. Recently, I gave a couple of talks to groups of high school students where I spoke about the experience of study abroad.
News
Best Student Paper Award at IWSCFF
We are excited share that our paper "Distributed Multi-Target Relative Pose Estimation for Cooperative Spacecraft Swarm" received one of the Best Student Paper Awards at the 10th International Workshop for Satellite Constellation and Formation Flying (IWSCFF) in Glasgow.
Featured in Caltech Y Spotlight
The Caltech Y opened so many opportunities to get involved outside the lab, such as high school tutoring, Washington D.C. Policy Trip, and the Social Activism Speaker Series. In this Spotlight article, I shared some of the amazing experiences through the Y.
JGCD Paper Published
My work on precise formation-flying control analysis, conducted when I was working at JPL, is now available. It presents an analytical approach to quantify estimation precision, closed-loop control error, and fuel cost and provides insight to fundamental trade-offs of for precise keeping.
Vising Intersteller Commet?!
October 2018, I had an opportunity to participate in one-week long KISS Workshop for Large Constellations and Formations for Exploring Interstellar Objects and Long-Period Comets where leading astronomers, instrument engineers, and mission formulation engineers conducted a feasibility study of visiting once-in-a-lifetime intersteller commet.