Featured

D.O.R.A. — UAV Flight Sim

Simulation of fixed-wing UAV flight dynamics with realistic wind models and advanced control systems for validation and testing.

Objective
- Custom UAV flight sim to explore dynamics, control, and estimation.
- Integrated Dryden wind, PID loops, and Kalman filters.
Challenges
- Maintaining numerical stability under turbulence and strong inputs.
- Real-time coupling of wind, estimation, and control modules.
- Tuning for smooth line-following and steady flight.
Results & Contributions
- Implemented Dryden turbulence, Kalman filters, and PID architecture.
- Animated control surfaces for visualization.
- Built a line-following autopilot robust to gusts/noise.
- Delivered a modular testbed for control & estimation research.

UAV Sim

D.O.R.A. — UAV Flight Sim

Simulation of fixed-wing UAV flight dynamics with realistic wind models and advanced control systems for validation and testing.

Project details

Objective
- Custom UAV flight sim to explore dynamics, control, and estimation.
- Integrated Dryden wind, PID loops, and Kalman filters.
Challenges
- Maintaining numerical stability under turbulence and strong inputs.
- Real-time coupling of wind, estimation, and control modules.
- Tuning for smooth line-following and steady flight.
Results & Contributions
- Implemented Dryden turbulence, Kalman filters, and PID architecture.
- Animated control surfaces for visualization.
- Built a line-following autopilot robust to gusts/noise.
- Delivered a modular testbed for control & estimation research.

Actuator PCB

Multimodal Actuator PCB

Custom KiCad PCB integrating drivers, sensing front-ends, and BLE comms; optimized for mW-level power budget, and manufacturability.

Project details

Objective
- Miniaturize a legacy actuator control board and add bidirectional (±) current sensing while maintaining full Arduino-Nano compatibility.
- Rebuild a complete schematic and BOM from incomplete project files to enable future maintainability.
Challenges
- Inherited an undocumented and incomplete design with missing components and no schematic.
- Reverse-engineered the board through continuity probing and net tracing to recover signal connections.
- Identified and replaced discontinued components (e.g., gyro, in-amp) with modern equivalents, integrating a precision ADC for accurate ± current measurement.
Results & Contributions
- Delivered a compact, manufacturable PCB with validated ± current sensing and drop-in firmware compatibility.
- Produced a clean schematic and version-locked BOM, eliminating design ambiguity and ensuring long-term reproducibility.
- Documented bring-up and testing procedures for seamless handoff within the lab.

Mechatronics Bot

Autonomous mobile robot with closed-loop motor control, IR sensing stack, and custom test fixtures for rapid debugging and hardware bring-up.

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Project details

Objective
- Develop an autonomous robot capable of navigating a field, identifying a target, and launching ping-pong balls to score points.
- Combine mechanical, electrical, and software systems into a reliable, fully automated design.
Challenges
- Limited budget — built almost entirely from recycled materials and salvaged parts.
- Frequent rule changes required rapid design and software adjustments.
- Hardware instability — rebuilt and calibrated sensors and boards to maintain accuracy and consistency.
Results & Contributions
- Delivered the second-highest performing robot in the competition at under 10% of the cost of other teams.
- Implemented dependable autonomous navigation and aiming using wall-following and beacon-tracking control.
- Designed a compact, low-cost shooting mechanism and integrated the full control system for consistent, repeatable performance.

Soft Finger

Soft Finger — ARMAX → PID

Identified the dynamic behavior of a pneumatic soft actuator through discrete-time ARMAX modeling (Ts = 0.01 s) and designed a tuned PID controller that reduced rise time and overshoot in closed-loop simulation.

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Project details

Objective
- System-identify the dynamic model of a pneumatic soft actuator and design a PID controller for precise motion control.
- Because the actuator deforms continuously and doesn’t map neatly to rigid-link models (DH/Jacobians), used a data-driven ARMAX approach to capture its input–output behavior.
- Derived a discrete-time transfer function and tuned a PID controller (Ts = 0.01 s) for accurate trajectory tracking.
Challenges
- Capturing nonlinear, pressure-driven deformation behavior with limited simulation data.
- Designing excitation signals that revealed key dynamics without overfitting or inducing instability.
- Maintaining stable model estimation and controller tuning at a high 0.01 s sampling rate.
Results & Contributions
- Validated a second-order ARMAX model as a stable and accurate representation for control design.
- Implemented a tuned PID that reduced rise time and overshoot in simulation while preserving steady-state accuracy.
- Created a reusable workflow for soft actuator modeling, identification, and control synthesis.

Robot Arm Controller

Developed a Webots-based controller for a 6-DOF robotic arm implementing inverse kinematics, trajectory planning, and smooth orientation tracking for workspace manipulation tasks.

Project details

Objective
- Design and implement a controller for a 6-DOF robotic arm capable of precise position and orientation tracking using inverse kinematics.
- Demonstrate smooth motion and stable convergence for general workspace manipulation tasks.
Challenges
- Handling kinematic singularities and joint-limit constraints during trajectory execution.
- Ensuring smooth motion by minimizing velocity and jerk discontinuities between waypoints.
- Tuning control parameters for consistent convergence under simulation latency.
Results & Contributions
- Achieved accurate trajectory tracking and stable end-effector orientation across complex paths.
- Developed a parameterized framework for easy testing of new trajectories and controller variations.
- Produced a reproducible demo illustrating reference tracking and joint coordination in Webots simulation.

IR Wand Game

Interactive IR-based game blending rock–paper–scissors with laser tag; wands feature onboard microcontrollers, Bluetooth link to central laptop hub, and scoring logic.

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Project details

Objective
- Develop a portable, multiplayer IR game system with low-latency communication and synchronized scoring across all players.
- Integrate embedded hardware, wireless communication, and real-time game logic into a cohesive platform.
Challenges
- Overcoming ambient IR interference and ensuring consistent signal detection in variable lighting conditions.
- Maintaining reliable synchronization between multiple wands and the central Bluetooth hub.
- Balancing power efficiency and runtime with limited onboard battery capacity.
Results & Contributions
- Implemented a robust IR communication protocol enabling accurate hit detection and scoring in real time.
- Integrated BLE hub control and user feedback through LEDs and sound cues for responsive gameplay.
- Delivered a fully functional, portable prototype demonstrating reliable multiplayer interaction and real-time coordination.