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Spencer Backus

Address:

4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA 91101

Member of:

347B - Applied Robotic Systems

Spencer Backus

Member of Technical Staff

Biography

Spencer Backus joined the Robotic Vehicles and Manipulators Group in 2017 and is working on projects related to grasping underwater and in space. Prior to Joining JPL he worked in the GRAB Lab at Yale University where he designed and built end effectors for aerial vehicles, a vibration based contact sensor, and modeled the biomechanics of grasping in birds. Also, during various internships he worked on projects in oceanography and aerospace at the University of Washington, Technical University of Berlin, Blue Origin, and Woods Hole Oceanographic institute.

Education

2017 PhD Mech. Eng. Yale University
2013 MPhil Mech. Eng. Yale University
2012 MS Mech. Eng. Yale University
2010 BS Mech. Eng. F.W. Olin College of Engineering.

Research Interests

Robotic grasping and manipulation, robotic assembly and servicing, mechanism design

Publications

2024
  1. P. Nadan, S. Backus, and A. Johnson, "LORIS: A Lightweight Free-Climbing Robot for Extreme Terrain Exploration," Robotics Institute Carnegie Mellon University, 07 June 2024.
  2. A. Daca, D. Loret de Mola Lemus, S. Backus, and R. Mukherjee, "Concept and Validation of Autonomous Robotic Assembly of Antenna from ESPA Class Spacecraft," 2024 IEEE Aerospace Conference, Big Sky, MT, USA, 02 March 2024.
2023
  1. 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. P. Nadan, D. K. Patel, C. Pavlov, S. Backus, and A. M. Johnson, "Microspine Design for Additive Manufacturing," 2022 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Kyoto, Japan, pp. 5640-5647, doi: 10.1109/IROS47612.2022.9981634, 23 October 2022.
2021
  1. S. Backus, S. Moreland, L. Kerber, and R. McCormick, "Design and Use of the Cold Operable Lunar Deployable Arm End Effector for Geotechnical Investigations," 2021 Annual Meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group, LPI Contribution No. 2635, id.5035, 31 August 2021.
  2. M. Anderson, S. Backus, E. Hughes, A. Curtis, S.J. Chung, and E. Stolper, "Development and Deployment of an Autonomous UAV-Borne Gas and Particulate Sample Capture System for Fumarole Sampling," AIAA Scitech 2021 Forum, 04 January 2021.
2020
  1. R. Mukherjee S. Backus T. Setterfield A. Brinkman G. Agnes E. Sunada J. Kim B. Emanuel R. Smith J. Hyon L. Chappell J. Lymer A. Tadros, "A Robotically Assembled and Serviced Science Station for Earth Observations," 020 IEEE Aerospace Conference, Big Sky, MT, USA, 2020, pp. 1-15, 14 September 2020.
  2. S. Backus W. Walsh T. P. Setterfield B. Wylie J. S. Hilaire B. C. Simon R. Mukherjee, "Concept for a Distributed, Modular, In-space Robotically Assembled, RF Communication Payload in GEO," 2020 IEEE Aerospace Conference, Big Sky, MT, USA, 2020, pp. 1-17, 14 September 2020.
  3. S. Backus, R. Onishi, A. Bocklund, A. Berg, E. Contreras, A. Parness, "Design and Testing of the JPL-Nautilus Gripper for deep-ocean geological sampling," Journal of Field Robotics, 1-15, 09 February 2020.
  4. S. Backus, J. S. Izraelevitz, J. Quan, R. Jitosho, E. Slavick, & A. Kalantari, "Design and Testing of an Ultra-Light Weight Perching System for Sloped or Vertical Rough Surfaces on Mars," IEEE Aerospace Conference, 01 January 2020.
2018
  1. S. Backus, A. Dollar, "A prismatic-revolute-revolute joint hand for grasping from unmanned aerial vehicles and other minimally Constrained Vehicles," Journal of Mechanisms Robotics, 01 April 2018.
  2. R. McCormick, A. Austin, K. Wehage, S. Backus, R. Miller, J. Leith, B. Bradley, P. Durham, R. Mukherjee, "REMORA CubeSat for large debris rendezvous, attachment, tracking, and collision avoidance," 2018 IEEE Aerospace Conference, Big Sky, MT, USA, pp. 1-13, doi: 10.1109/AERO.2018.8396814, 03 March 2018.