Projects
I enjoy keeping myself busy by completing projects in my free time. Sometimes they are short projects that I attempt to teach myself a new skill or program. I try to keep this page updated with my most recent or most interesting projects, and I would love to talk more about them. Click on a project's name to open a more in-depth description of the project.
The Terrain Exploration and Analysis Machine (TEAM) is a design concept for an assistive robot that is meant to be used on the future Artemis mission. It uses LiDAR and a camera with computer vision to observe its surroundings and determine a best path forward. The design should be familiar because it was inspired by the Boston Dynamics Spot robot.
Shown here is the Sacagawea PPod that was a design concept to deliver 24 FemtoSats to Mars, Phobos, and Deimos. The PPod houses 3 FPods which house 8 FemtoSats each. The FemtoSats were designed to act as temporary GPS and scientific instruments. This project was part of my training for ASTEROIDS, and I hope to work on more projects like this.
This picture includes early designs related to a conceptual lunar base. For this project, I worked on several sub-systems, and I did most of the CAD work on the project. The concept involved having astronauts and robots arrive at a site near a lunar lava tunnel and create a temporary base for the astronauts until a permanent base was constructed in the tunnels. The astronauts would be in the temporary base researching and developing food production to allow them to become a self-sufficient base. This was another project that was part of my ASTEROIDS trainnig.
This was a project for my Gasdynamics class. We were asked to create a simple program that would calculate the Mach number within a rocket nozzle and use those calculations to create an ideal rocket nozzle. I created the code in VBA in Excel, and the Mach numbers are calculated using the "method of characteristics". The project asked for a program that would show the interior shockwaves and their reflections for a rocket nozzle with an exit Mach number of 3. The hardest part of the project for me was learning how to code in VBA. This is discussed further on the project page.
I started this project before any of my internships, and I budgeted the project based on how much money I had at the time. I limited the project to $100 and only things I had around the house. The hydraulic crane was from a high school project of mine, and the long boards were taken from an old fence in my backyard. I purchased most of the electronics from Amazon, and the other components were found at a local hobby shop. In total, the project cost me around $80. I was unable to complete the project because I began my work at ASTEROIDS near the end of the project. I hope to update and complete it soon using my 3D printer.
More projects to come!
I am currently performing research with a couple of students and a professor in the Mining Engineering department at the University of Arizona. The above photo is a 3D model I made of a conceptual lunar mining base that the mining engineering professor designed. I hope to share some more exciting news and updates soon!