Welcome to the Multi-Scale Robotics & Automation Lab (MSRAL) located in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University. The MSRAL performs cutting-edge research on robotic and automation systems at various length scales: macro-scale (cm to m), meso-scale (~100’s of μm to a few mm’s), micro-scale (10’s of μm to 100’s of μm), and nano-scale (nm). Research areas of focus are multi-scale robotic manipulation, automation, and assembly, mobile microrobotics, medical robotics and devices, automation for the life sciences, and micro aerial and ground vehicle design & control for agricultural and space applications.

Recent Publications

RoMu4o: A Robotic Manipulation Unit For Orchard Operations Automating Proximal Hyperspectral Leaf Sensing.
M. Mortazavi, D.J. Cappelleri, R. Ehsani. IEEE Robotics & Automation Letters (RA-L). Under Review, 2025.

Cell Spheroid Placement using Mobile Microgrippers for Tissue Engineering Applications.
A. Davis, M. Howard, L. Solorio, D.J. Cappelleri. Advanced Healthcare Materials. Under Review, 2025.

3D-Templated Thermal-responsive Helical Adaptive Microswimmers.
Y. Yang, A. Davis, L. Tan, D.J. Cappelleri. Journal of Medical Robotics Research. Under Review, 2025.


More Publications

Research Projects

Agricultural Robotics (IoT4Ag)
Agricultural Robotics (IoT4Ag)
Microscale Tumbling Magnetic (µTUM) Microrobots for Biomedical Applications
Microscale Tumbling Magnetic (µTUM) Microrobots for Biomedical Applications
Responsive Polymer Magnetic Microrobots (RPMMs)
Responsive Polymer Magnetic Microrobots (RPMMs)
Robotics for Resilient Extraterrestrial Habitats
Robotics for Resilient Extraterrestrial Habitats

More Research Projects

News

Autonomous corn robot monitors and samples crops that humans can’t reach
2024-10-09 22:35:10
World’s Smallest Drum: GUINNESS WORLD RECORD!
2024-07-18 22:29:09
MSRAL @ MARSS 2024
2024-07-04 21:43:25
David Cappelleri elected Fellow of ASME
2024-06-12 22:26:23

More News