Sprinkler System for Fire Hydrants

Spring 2025

    For my Senior Design Project class, we worked for Make It Rain Wildfire to improve upon and invent new systems for an emergency sprinkler system attached to fire hydrants. The goal of this system was to prevent flying embers from wildfires igniting someone's property!

    This project also included research into the legality, ease of use, installation cost, water usage, and deformation for these systems. A lot for one semester but we were able to pull it all together in the end and develop a new device to attach onto theirs. Our idea was a long-distance remote-controlled valve system that allows for both less manpower to enable/disable these systems and the reduction of water usage due to the electronic system able to now have a timer that can turn the system on and off when the ground is damp enough. We went out to test our design but the water pressure was much higher than anticipated which broke the valve we bought. An unsuccessful test but definitely hoping that all our research and design ideas can go forward into a next iteration allowing this potentially property saving system to be used in devastating wildfires.

Automatic Can Opener

Spring 2025

    For my Robot Mechanism Design class, we had to design a complex robot utilizing some of the aspects discussed in class like mechanical advantage and 4 bar systems. For our project, we chose to make an automatic can opener that will rotate the can while using a blade to slowly cut the top off of the can. While the project initially seemed simple, we ended up having to change our designs multiple times due to pushback from the teaching team which ultimately ended up with us going back to our original idea.

    The idea we settled with is using a manually-controlled reverse break-drum clamp to grab the can while it is rotated using a simple gear system. While rotating, the top of the can will be cut using a slider crank that pushes a blade periodically into the can. I wish we didn't get as much pushback during the design phase so we had more time to make more prototypes to test the period of cutting and cutting more towards the top of the can to reduce deformation issues. We also could've made it work for any size cans which was the original goal.

Talons of Acquisition

2021 - 2025

    In the Robotics & Automation Society (RAS), I participated in the Demobots subcommittee where we create multiple subteams to create our own robots to demonstrate during robotics events like UT's STEM Girl Day! My subteam that I headed, Talons of Acquisition (TOA), had the goal of making a simple claw machine meant to be modularized and improved throughout its lifetime.

    This robot unfortunately has taken the longest to make simply due to the nature of the subcommittee being low-commitment, however, it has been the most fun as I've got to meet so many cool and unique friends throughout my 4 years on the team! I ended up being the main mechanical engineer designing and manufacturing a lot of the subsystems pictured. Before I left, we had begun work on some of the electrical and software aspects of the design and hope to keep in contact with the team past graduation! I also can't wait to see the design fully finished and demonstrated to inspire other students and youth!

Texas Robo Rumble

Spring 2024

    I signed up for a Battle Bots competition! You heard that right! Within a couple months, we had to design, build, and battle our own bots in a double-elimination bracket.

    I was the main one on CAD and designed the body of the bot. A couple design factors I thought crucial for the body is: 1. Being able to be flipped over which is why the body isn't that tall so the wheels could stick out on either side and 2. Having a secondary offense mechanism of a ramp.

    One of the most difficult parts was getting the weapon machined as MechE's Machine Shop Staff was incredibly unhelpful however someone from Texas Inventionworks helped us out. Unfortunately, our motor ended up being flipped for the weapon which caused it to self-destruct. HOWEVER, my ramp design worked, and we won a battle while we fixed our main weapon. We ended up winning 5th overall! My next semester we ended up building the same robot for our Design Methodology class and did a lot of improvements and analysis to the design.

RC Race Car

Spring 2024

    For my Machine Elements class, our task was to design, test, and race an RC car. This proved to be quite the challenge due to us having to design a gearbox and turning mechanism from scratch with little help from the professor and TAs.

    After a lot of research and prototyping we were able to come up with the design shown here. As this class also discussed deflection and fatigue, we did an FEA analysis both for the axle and upon impact as well as hand calculations for different stress conditions.

    From our analysis results and not wanting to damage our steering mechanism, we added a front ramming bar to protect ourselves. Unfortunately, during competition our servo horn got stripped and we had to quickly replace it but we could only turn right which was the opposite way of the track. Shows how important quality assurance is and how to design a better steering mechanism for next time!

Carlos, The 6-Legged Rover

Spring 2022

    One day I decided, today I'm going to build my own robot and so I did! I was inspired by the K'NEX Spider Bot toy I has as a child and wanted to recreate it using the lasercutters and printers I was now trained for at Texas Inventionworks.

    I modeled it in Fusion360 as it's the CAD software I was most familar with at the time and then built and assembled it within the span of a semester. The thing I unnexpectedly had the most trouble with was the servos as I accidentally bought limited 180° servos, so I had to take them apart and unattach the potentiometer.

    After building it, I showed to my friends to see how they would respond to it as I had put two sound sensors on the front but the robot ended up being too loud and too slow for the sounds sensors to do anything. Next time could be interesting to try it with distance sensors and have it stop every couple seconds to sense motion and move towards it. Watch my YouTube Vlog for more details!

Superheroes in VR

2021 - Present

    I've had the idea for a while now to create some type of Superhero VR Game! Now, while yes, there have been some before they don't get into that much depth and I think there is a lot of untapped potential especially if multiplayer is involved as you would have to uniquely work together with others to solve complex problems.

    The exact plan for the game is not yet set in stone but after having started the project making the classic web-swinging behavior, some ideas have started to form in terms of where this game could go utilizing my favorite game mechanic, ecosystems!

    This project is not yet finished, so check back later!

Multiplayer Madness

2021 - Present

    A mysterious game called Multiplayer Madness! The idea for this game is inspired by a lot of Minecraft content and other player to player based interactions I've seen from games based on storytelling and adventure. It's also one of the three game I've been working on as a part of my initiative to learn how to use Unreal!

    The main focus is focusing player interactions amongst an island with random trials, objects, and interactions meant to create interesting storytelling beats dynamically which may seem challenging but what's programming without a bit of a challenge! There is also a focus again on exploration as you can explore the dangerous lands outside of the island to get specific materials and do specific tasks. This project is also meant to be procedural with terrain building/destruction!

    This project is not yet finished, so check back later!

Virtual Robot Simulator

2021 - Present

    The Virtual Robot Simulator is a program that I have worked on for a while. It originally started as a personal project to bring the experience of the robotics competition FTC to a virtual environment during Covid times, however, a respresentative from FTC was making their own simulator and asked me to join the team after seeing my skills and initiative!

     The Virtual Robot Simulator hopes to provide a simulator to those teams in FTC and inspired elementary students who wish to experience the world of robotics! Because of this, we offer the ability to program using Blocks and Java, the ability to start a multiplayer competition between others, lessons ranging from beginner to advanced topics, and the ability to import your own robots that have been made through a CAD software which I have been in charge of designing and creating! I've also worked a lot on the visual design and ensuring a smooth user experience for new users. Overall, a very rewarding experience as the problems are complicated, the user experience is important, and the program has had an active positive impact for many users and elementary schools!

Villain REWIND

2020 - Present

    Another game that originally started as a game jam, but turns out became really fun to play, Villain REWIND! I played this game a lot in my classes during quarantine to pass the time once assignments were done.

    In this game, you must continuously reach the end of the same room as you are rewound back, however, the position of the player is tracked every run and, in beat with the song, a trap will be placed where the player has been before which makes the player not be able to take the same path twice and will lead to eventual chaos with traps down every single path. This game requires a lot of quick thinking and has been very fun to try and beat on my "impossible" mode where the time to get through the room each time is very small and the amount of times you have to run through is very large. I've enjoyed it so much and have been inspired by a Gooseworx song to make a bigger release of it on the fabled Unreal Engine!

Conquer the Tree

2019 - 2020

    The game Conquer the Tree I originally won as part of a Game Jam contest! The company offered to publish a fully finished version of my game on their website so I went straight to work. This specific company's platform allows a multiplayer couch experience where you can control the game through players' phones which I thought was a cool concept!

    The game involves a dynamically created board based on a growing tree where you must be the first to eat leaves and acorns to earn points! The only way to be the first one to move is by moving the least amount of spaces per round which makes it an interesting game dynamic. For the full game, powerups and minigames were included that resemble classic games like snake, whac-a-mole, and a few originals like an acorn launching game. It has also gone through a couple publishing platforms as the original platform vanished and the previous one became corporate and booted multiple indie games, so eventually I hope to publish it again using my own technology to host it!

Website is still Work in Progress 🔧