SAR is a student-led, faculty-advised engineering organization at Michigan State University. We operate like a production robotics team: documented, measured, and accountable for what we ship.
Every controller and perception module lives first in simulation. We train, validate, and stress-test in a virtual environment, then transfer to hardware only after the work holds up. Nothing goes to the field without a simulated baseline.
We enforce strict documentation, code review, and multi-disciplinary sprint cycles. Every member, whether local or remote, is tracked on an internal progress dashboard, with contributions visible across the team. Work is measured. Favoritism isn't a process here.
Dr. Xiaobo Tan is SAR's faculty advisor and an MSU Foundation Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He manages the Smart Microsystems Lab, and his work in control systems, robotics, and autonomous systems aligns closely with the technical areas SAR studies and builds around.
SAR operates within Michigan State University's engineering environment, where students can connect classroom work with collaborative technical projects. That setting gives the team access to a serious academic community while keeping the organization student-led and execution-focused.