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Hopping Robot
I designed and built a robot inspired by the Pixar Lamp, which can hop up to 1cm off the ground. To do this I created linkage, dynamics, force, current and motion models. I then made a highly detailed CAD model with cable wiring, heat reliefs, threaded inserts and electrical components. I'm currently enjoying trying to make the robot stand up after its hop using an IMU and PyBullet simulation software. |
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Modular Robots
Inspired by MIT M-Blocks, my team and I designed a set of small robotic modules which can link together with other modules to form a larger robotic system. The ends of each module have various mechanisms for connecting. In this picture, there is a design similar to a drywall screw which expands inside the other module to secure itself. This is great for resisting against shear forces between the modules! Another solution was two hooks to link the modules. This was excellent at resisting the axial and torsional forces modules may encounter. |
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Pinball Machine
As a personal project since the Fall of 2022, I have been making a pinball machine. Thus far, I have created working electronics for the flippers, bumpers, slingshots, lights, display and point calculator. I have also created a CAD model of the whole machine and have 3D printed selected parts for testing. Learn more on this specially dedicated page. |
CAD file for full Pinball Machine
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Eyeglass Light
After watching my family struggle to read the menu at dimly lit restaurants I designed a sleek, easy to manufacture, light which sits comfortably on the arms of a pair of eyeglasses. The light is turned on by a pushbutton on the side. This allows for easy and elegant use at restaurants by merely tapping and holding the outside of the case to read, and then removing one's finger when speaking to others. The simple solution ensures one does not accidentally shine the light in others' eyes. |
3D printed eyeglass light sitting on glasses
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Blue Devil Halloween Zoetrope
What would you do if you needed to give candy to kids without adult supervision?...Build a zoetrope of course. This project used a strobe light and motor to spin 3D blue devil figurines. The strobe light tricks your eye, similar to a flipbook, into thinking the models are animated. Then a specified amount of candy is dispensed for the children. Reactions to working zoetrope
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Finished characters for zoetrope
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Interactive Card Playing Robot
In August of 2019 I was awarded 2nd place in the NSW state Year 12 division of the Young ICT Explorers (YICTE) competition. It is also featured on CMU PixyCam's Official Website. I won this second place award for an Interactive Card Playing Robot I designed and constructed. My robot played the classic Italian card game "Briscola" by reading its own cards, thinking of its own moves and dealing the card that it had decided to play. My Briscola Robot is built using only a LEGO EV3 kit and Carnegie Mellon's PIXYCAM 1 vision camera. The PIXYCAM can output colour codes to the EV3 via its cable connection. You can see this interaction in action in the embedded video. |
Project description for Briscola Robot
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To control the program flow I used a "state machine" programming technique to more simply allow individual motors handle the cards and turn the camera to look at each of the four cards. I used the LEGO Mindstorms inbuilt graphical programming language; It is a similar, but more simplistic, language to Labview.
The PIXYCAM reads a colour code on each of the cards in order to identify all 40 of the unique Briscola cards. By programming in a hierarchy of cards I enabled the robot to be able to decide whether to win or to forfeit that hand. Colour codes allow the PIXYCAM to identify hundreds of different objects. It's a very powerful add-on to the LEGO kit.
Here is some detailed info about the tricky bits of the project.
The PIXYCAM reads a colour code on each of the cards in order to identify all 40 of the unique Briscola cards. By programming in a hierarchy of cards I enabled the robot to be able to decide whether to win or to forfeit that hand. Colour codes allow the PIXYCAM to identify hundreds of different objects. It's a very powerful add-on to the LEGO kit.
Here is some detailed info about the tricky bits of the project.
FLL, RoboCup Jnr, & Robotics Mentoring
My work with FIRST Lego League led me to an international competition, three national championships, and to my first mentoring and tutoring job. Now, 10 years later, I have judged the FLL Asia Pacific International Competition and am looking forward to inspiring the next generation of engineers. At the time, I wrote this piece about what FLL meant to me:
"When I involved my friends in a robotics competition, I never thought it would lead to tap dancing tsunamis in the middle of a university lecture hall. When my primary school friends walked into my lounge-room with no knowledge of programming, I never thought that leading six girls would amount to anything except having a great time. When we saw the teams that had religiously been coding at school, we did not expect to become one of Australia’s national champions.
Every Sunday, instead of going to the beach like other 10-year-old girls, my team and I attempted to solve problems faced during natural disasters with a three-inch-tall robot. We worked together to mimic saving buildings, people and animals from fire, tornados and landslides, all the while establishing our “core values” of teamwork and support for others.
In the FIRST LEGO League Challenge, my friend with an inclination for graphic design made t-shirts and my English-loving friend wrote the script for our presentation. “Still”, you might wonder, “where does the tap dancing come in?”
My friends who were talented dancers performed a tap battle to embody different natural disasters: a humorous but effective way to illustrate the importance of the automatic release fences we designed to combat fires in rural Australia.
We were even selected to represent Australia at the inaugural Asia-Pacific Internationals. The FLL competition flawlessly integrates creativity, technology and teamwork to make an excellent, well-rounded competition. Being surrounded by other incredible teams at the Asia-Pacific Internationals was incredible. It was so wonderful and unique to be in such a supportive environment even while everyone is trying their best to win the competition.
With both the mentoring and programming skills I developed, I later taught a group of Year 7 and 8 students in the robotics club at school. As per my leadership philosophy I aimed to include all students by teaching skills through engaging activities, from “battle bots” to line-following for the RoboCup Junior competition. I even took an interactive robot that played Briscola (an ancient Italian card game) that I constructed this year to demonstrate the different coding techniques required to make it and inspire them to create robots they were passionate about.
Robotics has always been an important area of my life and I know that the values I learnt from competing and mentoring will be present with me throughout all aspects of my work."
My work with FIRST Lego League led me to an international competition, three national championships, and to my first mentoring and tutoring job. Now, 10 years later, I have judged the FLL Asia Pacific International Competition and am looking forward to inspiring the next generation of engineers. At the time, I wrote this piece about what FLL meant to me:
"When I involved my friends in a robotics competition, I never thought it would lead to tap dancing tsunamis in the middle of a university lecture hall. When my primary school friends walked into my lounge-room with no knowledge of programming, I never thought that leading six girls would amount to anything except having a great time. When we saw the teams that had religiously been coding at school, we did not expect to become one of Australia’s national champions.
Every Sunday, instead of going to the beach like other 10-year-old girls, my team and I attempted to solve problems faced during natural disasters with a three-inch-tall robot. We worked together to mimic saving buildings, people and animals from fire, tornados and landslides, all the while establishing our “core values” of teamwork and support for others.
In the FIRST LEGO League Challenge, my friend with an inclination for graphic design made t-shirts and my English-loving friend wrote the script for our presentation. “Still”, you might wonder, “where does the tap dancing come in?”
My friends who were talented dancers performed a tap battle to embody different natural disasters: a humorous but effective way to illustrate the importance of the automatic release fences we designed to combat fires in rural Australia.
We were even selected to represent Australia at the inaugural Asia-Pacific Internationals. The FLL competition flawlessly integrates creativity, technology and teamwork to make an excellent, well-rounded competition. Being surrounded by other incredible teams at the Asia-Pacific Internationals was incredible. It was so wonderful and unique to be in such a supportive environment even while everyone is trying their best to win the competition.
With both the mentoring and programming skills I developed, I later taught a group of Year 7 and 8 students in the robotics club at school. As per my leadership philosophy I aimed to include all students by teaching skills through engaging activities, from “battle bots” to line-following for the RoboCup Junior competition. I even took an interactive robot that played Briscola (an ancient Italian card game) that I constructed this year to demonstrate the different coding techniques required to make it and inspire them to create robots they were passionate about.
Robotics has always been an important area of my life and I know that the values I learnt from competing and mentoring will be present with me throughout all aspects of my work."
