Coin-Copter: A Stable Coin-sized Helicopter with Enough Lift for Autonomy
Coin-Copter aims to achieve autonomous aerial flight at the near-gram scale by leveraging a flat-foldable flybar-rotor mechanism (see prior work).
About Me
I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington (UW), advised by Vikram Iyer and Sawyer Fuller. I am also the co-founder of the federally recognized nonprofit A V E L A - A Vision for Engineering Literacy & Access (AVELA).
My research explores how combinations of low-power actuation and control mechanisms can create autonomous microrobots optimized for resource-constrained applications. By combining cyber-mechanical innovations, such as origami mechanisms and ultra-low-power wireless communication and sensing, I aim to design autonomous battery-free microrobots. I envision these microrobots operating intelligently in large swarms, alongside larger systems, to transform disaster response, industrial inventory and inspection, wireless networking, precision agriculture, and environmental monitoring. My work has been recognized by the NSF GRFP, GFSD, Quad Fellowship, Amazon Science Hub Fellowship, Google Generation Scholarship, Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium, SPEEA ACE Fellowship, Clean Energy Institute Fellowship, Cadence Scholarship, and National GEM Consortium. Publications include papers in Science Robotics and ACM MobiCom, with coverage from the NSF, GeekWire, Popular Science, and IEEE.
I’m also passionate about education and mentorship. Since 2019, I have mentored over 500 AVELA college instructors, who in turn have taught hands-on STEM lessons for more than 6,000 secondary school students across Washington State. Findings from this wide-scale outreach have appeared in conference venues such as the Global Engineering Deans Council World Engineering Education Forum. I also co-founded UW’s Black Graduate Student Association in 2020. My community work is guided by Maya Angelou’s words: “When you learn, teach. When you get, give.”
Ongoing Research
FLEABOT: Field Locomotive Electromagnetic Actuated microroBOT
FLEABOT aims to leverage cyber-mechanical innovations to achieve autonomous multi-modal locomotino in real-world environments.
Battery-free Computer Vision on Insect-scale Microrobots
To achieve autonomous locomotion, we aim to equip MilliMobile (see prior work) with an AI-powered vision-based feedback-controller.
Leaf-out Origami Micro-hopper
Leveraging the bistability of leaf-out origami, our micro-hopper achieves ultra-low-power repeated jumping in a controlled manner.
Selected Media
- (Mar 2024) UW Allen School — “I Am CSE: Kyle Johnson”. Link.
- (Dec 2023) NSF Discovery Files — “Self-Powered Mini Robot”. Link.
- (May 2023) UW Magazine — “50 years later, writer sees a changed campus for Black UW students”. Link.
- (Dec 2022) Allen School News — “Allen School Ph.D. students Kyle Johnson and Lisa Orii receive Quad Fellowships”. Link.
- (Nov 2022) Amazon — “Amazon and University of Washington Announce inaugural Science Hub Fellows”. Link.
- (May 2022) CNET — “These Tiny Sensors Ride the Wind Like Dandelion Seeds”. Link.
- (Jul 2021) Allen School News — “Kyle Johnson wins 2021 Generation Google Scholarship”. Link.
- (Apr 2021) Allen School News — “Allen School students recognized for excellence in research by the NSF”. Link.
- (Dec 2018) A&A News & Events — “A&A’s Australia summer program helps forge future directions with LSAMP”. Link.
Invited Talks & Presentations
- (Sep 2025) Seoul National University — “Battery-free Near-gram Microrobots: Designing Autonomy for Locomotion”.
- (May 2024) Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) — “Battery-free Autonomous Microrobots”. Link.
- (Jan 2024) NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Engineering Colloquium — “Battery-free Autonomous Microrobotics”. Link.
- (Dec 2023) Harvard University, Research University Alliance — “Battery-free Autonomous Microrobotics”.
- (Nov 2023) Cornell Robotics Seminar — “Battery-free Autonomous Microrobotics”. Link.
- (Jan 2023) UC Berkeley, Research University Alliance — “Solar-powered Shape-changing Origami Microfliers”.
- (Oct 2022) NAAM's Interactive Story Time — “I Promise, by Lebron James voiced by Kyle Johnson”. Link.
- (Aug 2019) UCLA Ronald E. McNair Conference — “Leaf-out Origami: Tailorable Fabrications and Applications”. Link.
- (Aug 2019) University of South Africa Academic Development Symposium — “Trauma, Educational Exclusions, and Survival: Examining Global Student Experience & Resilience”.
- (Apr 2019) UW Ronald E. McNair Conference — “Leaf-out Origami: A Multitransformable Structure”.
Selected Publications
Battery-free Computer Vision on Insect-scale Microrobots
IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) - Late Breaking, 2025.
Toward Sub-Gram Helicopters: Designing a Miniaturized Flybar for Passive Stability
IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2023.
MilliMobile: An Autonomous Battery-free Wireless Microrobot
ACM Mobile Computing and Networking, 2023.
Leaf-like Origami with Bistability for Self-Adaptive Grasping Motions
Soft Robotics, 2022.
Tractor-based Trailer Clearance and Positioning System and Method
US Patent 12,272,149. US Patent Application 17/535,142. Assignee: PACCAR Inc.
AVELA - A Vision for Engineering Literacy & Access expands science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) opportunities for underrepresented youth through a multi-tier near-peer mentorship model. We offer free, culturally responsive courses in AI literacy, data science, web development, robotics, XR, and many more fields; while pairing K–14 learners with representative college, graduate, and professional mentors (see AVELA UW website).
Since 2019, AVELA has supported over 500 college instructors in teaching more than 6,000 secondary students, delivering 110,000+ hours of hands-on STEM instruction (averageing 18+ hours per student). In 2024–25 alone, we supported 150 unique college instructors across 77 classrooms in leading 30,419 hours of learning to 2,101 secondary students. AVELA alumni have advanced to roles at Microsoft, NASA, Amazon, Boeing, and NVIDIA, as well as to PhD programs at Berkeley, UCLA, UMD, UMich, and Stanford.
We collaborate with schools and community partners across King County (like Rainier Beach HS, Summit Atlas/Sierra, Boys & Girls Clubs, ACLT WGC, African Community Housing Development) and train educators through partners like the Urban League, MESA, SPEEA ACE, Washington NASA Space Grant, and many more.
Beyond classes, AVELA hosts college & scholarship nights, organizes climate conferences, supports technical internships, and publishes research on equitable education and AI at venues like the ACM's CHI, RESPECT, and GEDC's WEEF. AVELA instructors have co-designed classroom norms for responsible AI use and prototyped locally run chatbots (CourseSLM) to support learning in low-connectivity settings. Please feel free to contact us if you are interested in partnering: coordinator_uw{at}AVELAccess.org.
News & Features
- Converge Media — “Empowering Youth Through Innovation: Kyle Johnson on AVELA and the HHCC” (Oct 2024). Link.
- FOX4 — “Hip-Hop Takes Over the University of Washington to Promote Climate Action” (Sep 2024). Link.
- Seattle Medium — “AVELA Empowers URM Students in STEM Through Mentorship and Outreach” (Jul 2024). Link.
- UW Bioengineering — “Bridging the STEM Diversity Gap Through Mentorship and Outreach” (Mar 2024). Link.
- Africatown Community Land Trust Newsletter — “A Year at the William Grose Center” (Nov 2023). Link.
- UW ECE — “UW ECE calls for proposals that improve diversity, equity and inclusion” (Feb 2023). Link.
- CBS (CW11 Seattle) — “High school students learn to code, build free websites for local businesses” (Feb 2023). Link.
- UW CSE — “Winter Quarter 2023 DEIA Newsletter” (Jan 2023). Link.
- SPEEA Spotlight — “Ph.D. student’s work includes STEM diversity outreach” (Dec 2021). Link.
Publications & Presentations
- ACM RESPECT, Newark USA — “Redefining Data Science: Where Transformative Youth Organizing Meets Arts-Based Abolitionist Education” (Jul 2025). DOI.
- WEEF–GEDC, Sydney AUS — “Scalable Community Mentorship: A Vision for Engineering Literacy & Access” (Oct 2024). DOI, arXiv.
- Materials Research Society — Broadening Participation in Materials Research & STEM Symposium, Seattle USA — “Overcoming Technology Barriers and Incorporating Culturally Responsive Outreach in Materials Research” (2024). Link.
- Black Issues in Computing Education (BICE), Santo Domingo DR — “Leveraging AI to Improve STEM Engagement for Black and Latine Youth” (2024). DOI.
- NSF ML + Dynamical Systems + Control CTF Workshop, Seattle USA — “AI Institute in Dynamic Systems: CTF for Education and DEI” (2023). Link.
Forthcoming Publications
- ACM CHI: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems — “Getting Unstuck, Staying On Task: Designing Local Small Language Models to Support Student Learning” . (under review, Oct 2025)·
- World Engineering Education Forum – Global Engineering Deans Council (WEEF–GEDC), Daegu, Republic of Korea. “Tool or Toy? Student Views on ChatGPT in Culturally Responsive Computing Education: A Preliminary Investigation”. (presented, Sep 2025)·