This project aims to enhance the accuracy of hitting target apogees in rocket competitions by introducing air brakes for active in-flight control. In 2024, the Waterloo Rocketry team developed this system to improve upon previous methods that relied solely on simulations and precision manufacturing. As a key member of the air brakes subsystem, I worked on mechanical design, simulations, firmware development, and PCB design to implement synchronized, linear-extension air brakes controlled by a single servo motor, thereby enabling real-time flight adjustments.

This system automates the immediate validation of part tolerances in industrial automation lines. Parts are precisely measured using a rotary platform with computer vision (Python and OpenCV) and a moving clamp with a rotary encoder that converts rotary motion to linear distances. A custom communication protocol between an ESP32 and the main control unit wirelessly receives angle inputs from a PC to rotate objects correctly.

This project aims to increase the safety of large industrial garbage trucks when during reversing, specifically to avoid hitting people and objects. To achieve this a multifaceted sensing system is required to be mounted to the back of a truck, specifically consisting of 10 LiDAR sensors, 3 depth cameras, 1 visual (infrared) camera, a light sensor, an IMU, and a GPS sensor; all of which are controlled by 3 onboard microcontrollers, and 4 onboard mini compute units.

In this project, I complete a series of tasks involving the manipulation, cleansing, and analysis of a massive LIDAR point cloud. From removing anomalies to finding the two furthest points in a data set with millions of points, this project taught me some useful libraries and let me try some of my own algorithms and optimize their run time.

This is the culmination of my macro surface level aquatic trash cleaning robot; The Trashminator. Built for my tech design course, but evolved into a project with personal importance for me I am very happy with how it turned out. There are still improvements to be made, and I plan to continue working on it past the course culmination! The robot is able to autonomously navigate and clean up water bodies.