Projects

Robotics / 2023–2026

FTC robotics team lead

• Sole club leader: recruiting, team organization, fundraising, and direction of design, build, programming, and competition.
• Modeled the complete robot chassis from scratch in Fusion 360 using goBILDA components, adding a formal CAD phase the team had never had before.
• Closed the equipment funding gap with a crowdfunding push and a team bake sale.
• Wrote robot control code in Java.

Optics / 2025–2026

Automated tracking telescope

• Locates and tracks deep-sky objects using two stepper motors on independent axes.
• Camera attachment for long-exposure astrophotography, plus swappable eyepieces for variable magnification.
• Shutter system for brightness control, targeting enough resolution to make out Jovian bands and Saturn's rings.

Vehicles / 2024–2025

Competition electric vehicle

• Science Olympiad event: build a vehicle propelled solely by electrical energy that runs down a track as fast as possible and stops as close as it can to a target point.
• Scoring adds a time penalty to a distance penalty and the lowest score wins, so speed and stopping accuracy trade directly against each other.
• The target distance is anywhere from 7 to 10 m and isn't announced until after impound, so the vehicle has to be recalibrated to an unknown distance on the spot, then run twice inside an 8-minute window.
• Built around an Arduino-controlled drivetrain on a 3D-printed chassis, with braking triggered in software so a new target distance could be entered between runs.

Vehicles / 2024–2025

Custom RC race car

• 3D-printed chassis with a dual-motor drivetrain and independent electronic speed controllers.
• Ackermann steering geometry so the inner and outer wheels track at different optimal angles, which tightens the turning radius and keeps the tires from scrubbing in corners.
• 15° caster angle for self-aligning torque and straight-line stability at speed.
• Printed structural parts combined with sourced rod ends for the load-bearing linkages.