Summary⌗

  • Junior Captain (2018-2019), Mechanical Lead (2019-2020), Captain (2020-2021)
  • Led 50+ person team
  • Developed software to control a holonomic drive base and other systems on a robot
  • Developed a scouting data analysis platform to aid in strategy decisions and predictions

Background⌗

I was a part of my high school’s FIRST Robotics Competition team for all 4 years in high school. I loved participating and was on leadership for 3 years working to make the team better. In addition, I drove the robot during competitions for 2 years. I participated in a variety of ways and learned so much from other people, projects, and the competition in general.

Activites⌗

Mechanical Engineering and Design⌗

In my freshman year I helped produce and manufacture parts for the robot. I used various shop tools to measure, cut, and assemble parts made of wood, metal, and polycarbonate. In my sophomore year, I helped to design a robot from scratch using Onshape, which is professional CAD software. Along with other members, I designed an accurate representation of our robot in CAD and iterated on the design as needed. To aid assembly, we produced drawings from CAD using the software, along with using CAM software to generate instructions for our CNC mill.

Software Development⌗

In my senior year, I joined the programming subteam. That year, we switched to a holonomic drivebase, and, along with other members, we developed software to properly control it using an game controller. I also worked on a project to aid scouts during competition.

Development of Outreach Programs⌗

I also led the development of three different outreach programs.

One program was targeted at local girl scout troops. Based on badge requirements, I developed a curriculum to help them get badges for robotics at different levels. I based the curriculum off othe VEX Robotics Competition parts we had and led camp sessions.

Another program was a week-long robotics summer camp. I helped to design the curriculum for these camps for two summers. For both summers, I put in 40-hour weeks counseling and leading these camps by managing campers and counselors, counseling campers, and making sure things ran smoothly, along with coaching other counselors before hand.

The final program was a result of the robotics summer camp. I volunteered to help mentor a group of middle school campers who wanted to establish their own VEX Robotics Competition team. For two seasons, I taught them about various aspects of robotics, helped them build their own robot, and mentored them at competitions.

3D Modeling⌗

Another project I worked on was creating renders of the CAD model of our robot. I exported the CAD model into Blender, and spent time learning how to create realistic renders of the robot. I’ve included a few of my favorite renders below.

Merline, our 2021 robot An intake