PROJECTS
W.H.I.S.K Electric Stirrer
For my ME design project, my team and I created a power and cost-efficient automatic pot stirrer that’s lightweight, easy to manufacture, and structurally sound. It handles high-force loads like kneading dough, with key components including a frame, power train, and gearbox. We analyzed fastener strength, clamping force (with a torsion spring), shear resistance, and material selection for high-temperature durability, ensuring all components met weight, power, and load specifications.
Handpiece Expansion Box
For my first co-op at Emphysys, I got to work on this expansion box project, which belongs to a larger project at the company. Working on this subassembly allowed me to practice industrial design, DFMEA, inserting hardware, rapid prototyping, detailed drawings, master modeling and much more.
2024: A Spice Odyssey
Our team, initially six members split into two teams of three for the 2024 MakeHarvard event. My team created a smart storage system inspired by Wall-E. Overcoming challenges, including a malfunctioning stepper motor, we implemented a pulley system for rotation, resulting in an automated spice rack. Our project won the Best MakeHarvard Original award, showcasing our ability to blend mechanical, electrical, and software solutions within a tight 15-hour timeframe. The images and videos encapsulate our journey through bringing this idea to life, symbolizing our success at the competition.
3-axis Gantry Braille Punch
My friends and I entered into the 2023 MIT hosted hardware hackathon event and built a fully functional braille print machine in less than 24 hours. I worked primarily on the mechanical aspects of the design, machining brackets, cutting aluminum, finding hardware, building the platform and most importantly, designing the mechanics of the gantry.
Robotic Arm Simulation
Using Simulink and MatLab, I learned how to design and optimize a robotic system and simulate its work envelope. With a 3 linkage robot arm and a set of obstacles, the goal was to apply the linear algebra and kinematics taught in class to control the robot arm in specific ways. Gravity, the size and weight of the robots components, the end effector constraints, and even the electronics were all simulated accurately. I learned how to design a PID controller that interfaces with motors in simulink and provide feedback that can be used to calculate required powers; allowing for easy identification of motors on TS graphs. It is a complete application project of everything I learned in my robot dynamics and control class.
Robotic Pterodactyl
For a class project I took on the role of lead engineer and programmer. Integrating MATLAB with Arduino IDE allowed me to create an easy-to-use interface and I got to improve my mechanical fabrication skills in the process too. Check out this project to see how my team and I created this animatronic and to see the logic behind the code.
Thermoelectric Generator
Exercising some applied physics here, I took advantage of a phenomenon called the Seebeck effect. The result of this effect is the generating of electricity from temperature gradients. Click the button below to see more photos of this generator and see it in action. P.S: the rubber bands were not a part of the final design, they were only used to hold the aluminum while the adhesive was drying!
Robotic Hand
Over spring break last year I got bored of surfing YouTube looking at robotics projects and decided to build one of my own.
I designed this robotic hand that can actuate itself using small motors encased in the palm.
Bluetooth Speaker
In an effort to learn more about electrical engineering and further develop some of my skills, I decided to build this bluetooth speaker. Check out this project to see how it was developed from inception, to circuit design, to physical structure and part manufacturing.
Designing this testing fixture during my co-op at Emphysys gained me a lot of valuable experience interacting with sensors in a practical manner. For this project I learned about Swagelok fittings, pneumatics, how to use and calibrate load cells, how to use a data acquisition device (DAQ), how to collect data in an accurate, efficient way, and how to vet hardware from McMaster-Carr.
Pneumatic Axial Force Testing Fixture
Custom Ferrite Core Machining Rig
For one of the projects I worked on at Emphysys, we needed ferrite cores cut into a specific shape that would yield the necessary performance. The ferrite cores were part of a transmission system that is highly sensitive, and therefore the cores needed to be machined precisely. I made this rig so that we could machine cores in-house at a fraction of the cost necessary to outsource.
Motor Encoder Discrete Circuit
A goal of mine during my time at Emphysys was to complete some electrical engineering work to gain exposure to that side of engineering. I got to help design, assemble and test this discrete circuit which included 3 phototransistors and a small LED.
Motor Encoder Test Fixture
Another smaller project I did at Emphysys was designing and implementing this motor encoder board testing fixture. We needed to test different types of motor encoders and measure the performance of each at different distances, so a versatile fixture was needed.
High Energy System Enclosure
During my time at Emphysys, I learned a lot about high energy RF systems. They are powerful, delicate systems that are very sensitive to small changes in the environment. Understanding how to reduce parasitic capacitance and inductance is crucial when integrating mechanical design with electronics. For this project I got to practice using the laser cutter, ordering parts from vendors, wiring, installing hardware, and much more.
Testing electrical systems was a large part of the work done at Emphysys, and for that we needed robust custom fixtures for a lot of the projects we worked on. For one project in particular, we were testing wireless power transmission and required a fixture to test the connection strength between the two antennas.
Custom Translation Stage
Controller Design
This CAD project involved creating a game controller using SolidWorks. Through this project, I learned many new skills like lofted extrusions, how to perform parting line analysis, how to add internal ribs, and how to design for disassembly (DFD).
I also focused on ensuring the controller was both comfortable and aesthetically pleasing, experimenting with different materials and colors. This project gave me a better understanding of designing complex mechanical components and refining my SolidWorks skills, which I can use in future projects.
Acoustic Handpiece Fixture
Another project I got to work on at Emphysys was this hand piece testing fixture. The project that this belongs to designed to deliver high energy acoustic shockwaves through the hand piece. In order to test this with the hydrophone, we needed a fixture that could affix the hand piece into a vat of water and keep it stable for measurements.
Click below to see other projects
Infinity Mirror
Astrophotography
Static Analysis of a Tensegrity Sculpture
Data & Simulation-Driven Precision
Fixture Design
This project involved designing a fixture that was suitable for highly sensitive instruments in a radiation environment. It was necessary to run a modal analysis on this structure to ensure the instruments output would not be affected by too much external vibration, both from ground shock or the hum of any other machines in the testing lab. This project took months of designing and making alterations, seeing the output of the simulation, and using that information to further optimize the design.
