Projects
Below is a breakdown of my current and past projects, highlighting my contributions to specific projects. Some information has been redacted, but if you'd like to know more about any specific project, contact me and I will gladly share what I can.
Some projects have a build log attached, click the link to the right of the project name to view the individual blog posts.
Current: Inflatable Robotics Research - NASA - Log
The majority of my research is made of up researching practical application of inflatable robots.
Photos and progress will be posted after appropriate press releases.
Alex Drawers - Build Log
I have a real lack of storage at my desk and it is starting to become a problem. As such, I opted to buy a Alex drawer unit from IKEA, but it came in a rather drab grey. I thought I'd spruce it up a bit with orange shelf fronts and some acrylic labels. Still have no idea what to put in the bottom drawer.
Current: Backyard Foundry - Build Log
My wife and I wanted to build something that would let us cast items out of aluminum in our backyard, so we built a mini foundry. We made a slight miscalculation regarding the crucible, we saw that people liked to use small steel fire extinguishers, cut the top off, and use them as a small steel cup. The fire extinguisher we bought was too thin, so we bought a proper graphite crucible.
Update: Backyard Foundry + Costume - Build Log
I was able to salvage one of the parts we casted and it came out great!
From a rough cut with a bandsaw, rough sanding with a file, finishing with sandpaper, and mounted with LEDs.
Mechatronics Autonomous Robot Competition - Build Log
The mechatronics course at BYU, ME 495, puts in teams of 4 and challenges us to design, build, and program a robot that can collect ping pong balls and fire them into an illuminated goal entirely autonomously, controlled only by PIC24 microcontrollers.
Our robot had to design everything to fit around our massive foam shooter wheels, salvaged from a Hot-Wheels car launcher, as they were the only thing we could find that worked well. Our trials with acrylic wheels with rubber tires yielded poor results.
Our robot had to design everything to fit around our massive foam shooter wheels, salvaged from a Hot-Wheels car launcher, as they were the only thing we could find that worked well. Our trials with acrylic wheels with rubber tires yielded poor results.
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A rendered revolving view with moving cut plane. A favorite technique of mine. Created in SolidWorks with Photoview 360.
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This ball indexer is something I am particularly proud of. Two servos connected with a Y PWM cable, one holds the next ball clear, while the other pushes a ball into the shooter.
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BYU ME Capstone Project - Naval Research Laboratory
Our goal was to develop a modular poseable sensor stabilization platform capable of being mounted on a large array of robots and reducing vibrations ranging from 5-15 and 45-60 Hz. We split the design into two main sections, with myself focusing on a neck to take out low frequency vibrations to protect the camera from large impulses and a 3 axis gimbal to actively stabilize high frequencies as well as a set sensor package pose. We achieved -6 dB in acceleration between 5 to 60 Hz through the neck alone.
Video showing the neck being tested from 5 - 60 Hz.
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BOEING 737-300 Floor Beam Design Project
For a graduate aircraft structures course at BYU (CE EN 523), we had to design a weight optimized floor beam for the 737-300, capable of withstanding all load cases, fatigue, and corrosion conditions. We opted for a design with built in stiffeners plus riveted ones to increase rigidity while keeping weight low.
PACE Modeling Challenge
The final project for ME 471 we had to model a parametric RC car as a team. This model had to be capable of being scaled in 3 directions through external parameters.
University Rover Challenge
Every year for the competition we need to design and build a rover capable of navigating the Utah desert and completing a series of dexterous tasks over the course of a few months.
External GPU Enclosure
This was for a startup I was brought into that never made it to production, they wanted to make an elegant external GPU enclosure for laptop users who still wanted to game.
Personal Custom PC Build
Since most of this work was done from home, I needed to build my own computer capable of running all of these heavy applications.
Next build will be mITX, but won't happen until DDR4 becomes widespread. I need 32+ GB of RAM in only 2 DIMM slots.
Next build will be mITX, but won't happen until DDR4 becomes widespread. I need 32+ GB of RAM in only 2 DIMM slots.
Postponed: Flying Subwoofer
WIP - I live in an apartment and have a 300 Watt 12" subwoofer that my downstairs neighbors hate. I have no upstairs neighbors though and I am looking to suspend the subwoofer from the ceiling with a passive cancellation platform. I've already looked into subwoofer stands with canceling foam, but even at its lowest settings, it still shakes the apartment.
I work on this when I have the time. I have most of the materials I need now.
I work on this when I have the time. I have most of the materials I need now.