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Jaakko Karras

Address:

4800 Oak Grove Drive

Pasadena, CA 91109

Phone:

818.393.5878

Member of:

347A - Embedded Robotic Systems

Jaakko Karras

Biography

Jaakko Karras received an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from U.C. Berkeley, where he worked on tactile sensing for origami-inspired legged robots under the guidance of Prof. Ron Fearing. Prior to Berkeley, he attended Harvey Mudd College, graduating with a B.S. in Engineering (with emphases in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science). Jaakko enjoys working on robotic systems for both flight and research projects. Jaakko has spent many years working on Mars rotorcraft at JPL, the highlight of which has been the tremendously successful Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. Jaakko has also initiated and led several technology development tasks focused on origami-inspired miniature rovers.

Education

M.S. Electrical Engineering, U.C. Berkeley, 2013

B.S. Engineering, Harvey Mudd College, 2010

Professional Experience

Jaakko Karras joined JPL in 2014 and has held roles spanning electronics and software development, systems engineering, technical leadership, and project management. Jaakko worked for many years on the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, contributing to its avionics, motor control software, systems engineering, integration and test campaigns, and ultimately serving as chief engineer during the operations phase on Mars. Jaakko also served as the avionics lead for the COLDArm (Cold Operable Lunar Deployable Arm) technology demonstration project. Jaakko’s research project experience includes serving as the Principal Investigator and Project Manager for the PUFFER (Pop-Up Flat Folding Explorer Robot) project and Deputy Project Manager for the Autonomous PUFFER project, both funded by the NASA Game Changing Development program.

Research Interests

Mars Rotorcraft, Origami-Inspired Robots, Motor Control, Embedded Systems (Electronics and Software)

Awards

NASA Exceptional Public Achievement Medal (2022)

Robert J. Collier Trophy – Ingenuity Team (2021)

Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy – Ingenuity Team (2022)

Publications

2023
  1. Joshua Anderson, Jaakko Karras, Martin Cacan, Gerik Kubiak, Guy Pyrzak, Harel Dor, Benjamin Pipenberg, "Ingenuity, One Year of Flying on Mars," IEEE Aerospace Conference, Big Sky, MT, pp. 1-18, 04 March 2023.
  2. A. Brinkman, J. Karras, D. Zhu, N. Abcouwer, T. Brown, G. Kubiak, A. Umali, L. Tse, J. Zitkus, R. Mccormick, "Leveraging Ingenuity Software and Avionics to Enable Robotic Arm Sampling for COLDArm," 2023 IEEE Aerospace Conference, Big Sky, MT, USA, pp. 1-9, 04 March 2023.
  3. D. Newill-Smith, J. Shatts, R. P. Dillon, J. Karras, A. Brinkman, S. Backus, A. Umali, R. McCormick, L. Fradet, J. Laramee, G. Levanas, and R. Fleischner, "Cold Operable Lunar Deployable Arm (COLDArm) System Development and Test," 2023 IEEE Aerospace Conference, Big Sky, MT, USA, pp. 1-19, doi: 10.1109/AERO55745.2023.10115649, 04 March 2023.
2022
  1. T. Tzanetos, M. Aung, J. Balaram, H. Grip, J. Karras, T. Canham, G. Kubiak, J. Anderson, G. Merewether, M. Pauken, S. Cappucci, M. Chase, M. Golombek, O. Toupet, M. Smart, E. Ramirez, J. Lam, R. Stern, N. Chahat, J. Ravich, R. Hogg, B. Pipenberg, M. Keennon, K. Williford, "Ingenuity Mars Helicopter: From Technology Demonstration to Extraterrestrial Scout," 2022 IEEE Aerospace Conference (AERO), Big Sky, MT, USA, pp. 01-19, 05 March 2022.
2017
  1. J.T. Karras, C.L. Fuller, K.C. Carpenter, A. Buscicchio, D. McKeeby, C.J. Norman, C.E. Parcheta, I. Davydychev, R.S. Fearing, "Pop-up Mars Rover with Textile-Enhanced Rigid-Flex PCB Body," IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 01 January 2017.
2015
  1. C. Assad, M.T. Wolf, J. Karras, J. Reid, A. Stoica,, "JPL BioSleeve for Gesture-Based Control: Technology Development and Field Trials," IEEE Int. Conf. on Tech. for Practical Robot Applications, 01 January 2015.
  2. D.W. Haldane, C.S. Casarez, J.T. Karras, J. Lee, C. Li, A.O. Pullin, E.W. Schaler, D. Yun, H. Ota, A. Javey, R.S. Fearing, "Integrated Manufacture of Exoskeletons and Sensing Structures for Folded Millirobots," J. Mechanisms Robotics, 01 January 2015.
2012
  1. J.T. Karras, D.W. Haldane, R.S. Fearing, "Rapid-Manufacturable Hair Sensor Array for Legged Millirobots," IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. Robots and Systems, 01 January 2012.