AGENT OF PRESENCE
Geometry Darling (Illuminated Handbag)
Overview:
Geometry Darling is a luxury leather handbag with a fully integrated illuminated panel.
It is incredibly user-friendly, with easily accessible charging via microUSB and one simple button for operation (hidden on the front of the handbag).
Geometry Darling is equipped with several different light effects, including both a range of solid, single colors and a variety of dynamic, soft, multicolored effects.
My contribution:
I led the team of electrical engineers, product designers and manufacturers to design and produce this product. I also designed and programmed all of the light effects on the handbag.
Geometry Darling is a luxury leather handbag with a fully integrated illuminated panel.
It is incredibly user-friendly, with easily accessible charging via microUSB and one simple button for operation (hidden on the front of the handbag).
Geometry Darling is equipped with several different light effects, including both a range of solid, single colors and a variety of dynamic, soft, multicolored effects.
My contribution:
I led the team of electrical engineers, product designers and manufacturers to design and produce this product. I also designed and programmed all of the light effects on the handbag.
Presence of Heart (Heartbeat Dress)
Overview:
Presence of Heart is an interactive slip that lights up in response to the wearer's heartbeat. It also broadcasts the heartbeat signal via its own wifi network to an iOS application.
It is a showcase piece, using technology (traditionally thought of as cold/hard/sterile) to display human emotion in a soft, beautiful, and empathetic way.
The slip is sewn with Lumigram, a fabric woven with fiberoptics. The user wears a heartbeat monitor underneath the slip. This monitor communicates with LEDs attached to the fiberoptics in the dress, telling them to trigger each time it detects a heartbeat.
My contribution:
My role in this project was the mechanical integration involved with the dress. I designed and machined a coupling system to attach the fiberoptics coming out of the seams of the dress with the LED Driver PCBs. It is incredibly important to have a tight, clear bond between the fibers and their light source, otherwise the efficiency of the system diminishes significantly and there is major loss of light. In addition to this, I mounted the electronics to the slip, keeping in mind that they would come in close contact with the model's skin.
AMERICAN AEROSPACE ADVISERS, INC.
Avionics Packaging for Aircraft Payloads
Overview:
American Aerospace Technologies, Inc is a UAV products and services company. AAAI has recently developed a multispectral HD video mapping payload that can be mounted in both manned and unmanned aircraft (platform agnostic). This payload captures high resolution video from the air in real time.
My contribution:
I designed several enclosures and mounting mechanisms to help complete the assembly of this payload, including the 3D printed box pictured to the right.
8BitLit
Interactive Super Mario Lamp
Overview:
This product is a hanging lamp in the style of Super Mario Coin Blocks. It has a touch sensitive bottom side that functions as the on/off switch. It also comes equipped with Super Mario sound effects to make using this product a full experience.
Click here to see a demo of the Super Mario Lamp!
My contribution:
When the 8BitLit team was ready for production, I came in and helped assemble the Super Mario Lamps en masse.
HONEYBEE ROBOTICS
Simulating Lunar Conditions
Overview:
Honeybee Robotics is a spacecraft development corporation, prominent for their work developing arms for the Mars Rover.
My contribution:
At the time of my internship, Honeybee was developing a testing container for their products. The container was meant to simulate conditions on the moon to test the durability of their mechanisms meant for lunar use. I spent my time at Honeybee developing mounting mechanisms inside this container for the various types of samples.
CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY
Modsnake Research Lab
Overview:
Modsnake Research Lab creates snake robots that can be used in many applications, mostly disaster response and pipe inspection. It can move in a variety of ways. These capabilities include climbing a pole, climbing the inside of a pipe, and "sidewinding" (similar to the sideways motion of live snakes).
Click here to see a modsnake robot in action!
My contribution:
At this lab I worked on two main projects. I developed a mobile pack to hold the equipment necessary to run the robot in the field, helping to make it a turnkey solution in the face of disaster. I also designed a 3D printed claw to mount to the front of the snake to aid it in climbing ladders and challenging obstacles.
Modsnake Research Lab creates snake robots that can be used in many applications, mostly disaster response and pipe inspection. It can move in a variety of ways. These capabilities include climbing a pole, climbing the inside of a pipe, and "sidewinding" (similar to the sideways motion of live snakes).
Click here to see a modsnake robot in action!
My contribution:
At this lab I worked on two main projects. I developed a mobile pack to hold the equipment necessary to run the robot in the field, helping to make it a turnkey solution in the face of disaster. I also designed a 3D printed claw to mount to the front of the snake to aid it in climbing ladders and challenging obstacles.
Automatic Card Shuffler
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Overview: In a team of four, as part of the capstone course for mechanical engineering majors at CMU, I designed an automatic card shuffling device meant for at home use. Through the course we went through the entire design process, from ideation to a pre production model, as well as making a plan for mass production. The idea behind the mechanism is that the user splits a deck of cards in half and inserts each half into a slot in the back of the device. Step two is to pull out the card catching tray, which helps keep the cards in a neat pile. Push a button on the motor and a "guillotine-like" plate with two slots (for the two halves of the deck) lowers, allowing the cards to fall and mix in random manner. My Contribution: I came up with the idea to design a card shuffling device and was an active member of this team. I played a major role in the market research, cost analysis, prototyping and overall development of this product. I also developed all of the CAD models for this design, including the animation playing to the right. I did most of the machining for the prototypes as well. |
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LED Horoscope Booth Game
Overview:
Each year, Carnegie Mellon holds an event called Spring Carnival. A feature attraction Carnival is Booth, a showcase event where student organizations build temporary 2-3 storey structures following a theme. The booths are expected to incorporate several elements, including educational information, 2-3 interactive games and environmental friendliness. I participated in this event for 2 years with my sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma, each year creating one of the Booth’s games.
My contribution:
In my senior year, our Booth was astronomy themed. I had just discovered the field of fashion technology and was interested in experimenting with conductive thread and LEDs. I created a fabric wall that used LEDs to represent each of the 12 zodiac constellations. I turned the wall into a game. A constellation would light up at random, giving the player 3 attempts to name the constellation correctly. If the player lost, random LEDs would flash as a warning. If the player guessed correctly, all of the LEDs would flash on to indicate success. This was my first experience
programming LEDs and combining textiles and electronics.
Each year, Carnegie Mellon holds an event called Spring Carnival. A feature attraction Carnival is Booth, a showcase event where student organizations build temporary 2-3 storey structures following a theme. The booths are expected to incorporate several elements, including educational information, 2-3 interactive games and environmental friendliness. I participated in this event for 2 years with my sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma, each year creating one of the Booth’s games.
My contribution:
In my senior year, our Booth was astronomy themed. I had just discovered the field of fashion technology and was interested in experimenting with conductive thread and LEDs. I created a fabric wall that used LEDs to represent each of the 12 zodiac constellations. I turned the wall into a game. A constellation would light up at random, giving the player 3 attempts to name the constellation correctly. If the player lost, random LEDs would flash as a warning. If the player guessed correctly, all of the LEDs would flash on to indicate success. This was my first experience
programming LEDs and combining textiles and electronics.