Jalen Cai

MIT Media Lab · Space Enabled Summer 2026

Astrobees, Algorithms, and a Summer at MIT

Zero Robotics · MIT Media Lab

A summer with the Space Enabled group working on Zero Robotics — writing and testing autonomous strategies for Astrobee free-flying robots in simulation, then helping student teams get their own code to behave.

Summer 2026 AutonomySimulationMentoringMIT

Astrobees

Astrobees are free-flying robots that operate inside the International Space Station. Zero Robotics puts student teams against each other writing autonomy for them — first in a simulator, then, for the finalists, on the real hardware.

The summer

At MIT’s Space Enabled Lab, I worked with the Zero Robotics program using Astrobee simulations to test autonomous strategies, compare performance, and refine navigation and resource use.

A second part of the experience was mentorship: helping younger student teams understand their code, test ideas, and prepare for competition. The emphasis was on guiding their reasoning rather than simply handing them a finished solution.

Documentation

Add MIT photographs, simulator screenshots, and project documentation

Images, posters & documents

Milestones

  1. Summer 2026

    Simulator strategy development

    Developed and tested autonomous Astrobee strategies in the Zero Robotics simulator.

    Chapter
  2. Summer 2026

    Performance analysis and refinement

    Analysed run performance and refined navigation and resource use.

    Chapter
  3. Summer 2026

    Mentoring competition teams

    Supported student teams as they developed and tested competition code — helping them interpret simulator behaviour, troubleshoot strategy choices, and prepare for competition.

    Chapter