I have been interested in robotics and automation before I began undergraduate research, especially in the development of drones. However, I did not have a clear idea of how to get more involved in this field nor what my future career path would look like. Beginning undergraduate research has been an amazing opportunity for me, as working at the Cooperative Autonomous Systems Lab has given me a great introduction to the field of robotics. My role at the lab has been focused on the hardware implementation of motion planning algorithms into a drone swarming platform. The hope is to eventually utilize drone swarms for search and rescue applications. Using this platform, I have been able to fly up to 25 quadrotor drones simultaneously and have them follow different trajectories. The next project goal is to expand this to a much larger scale (up to 1000 drones at a time). I will continue to be responsible for the setup of the localization systems and the communication system us! ed to command all the drones. The projects I have been working on have also lined up well with the courses I have taken. As I continue to take controls related courses, I learn more concepts which help to accelerate my research and vise versa. Other students at the CAS Lab have been able to use their experience to get internship positions and jobs at NASA, Amazon, and even the Navy. I hope that by working on this project that I’ll be able to use the experience to land a similar position and further my career. Venanzio Cichella has been an amazing mentor, both in the classroom and in the research lab. I first began research under Professor Cichella after taking one of his classes I enjoyed, and since then he has made sure that I get the most out of my experience. Even though I am only an undergraduate researcher, he takes the time to regularly check in on my progress and makes sure that I am just as involved as the graduate students. He motivates me to push myself to reach! my full potential and I look forward to working with him again next semester. The research I have conducted so far has deepened my interest in the field of autonomous systems and I am excited to continue with this project in the coming academic year.