The purpose of this project was to design a turret-style robot capable of achieving a wide range of movement. For the rotational movement, I used two motors connected to a gear train, which was mounted to the base of the turret. The gear reduction allowed the rotation to be slow, but highly accurate and resistant to jamming due to the torque. For the upwards swivel, I used a large circular gear, with a small motor connected to a smaller gear to facilitate movement. The rotational range was 360 degrees, while the upwards swivel could aim from 90 degrees (horizontal) up to about 160 degrees (just below vertical). Overall, the project was a success, as the robot was both accurate and functional. While the goal was to write a program that would enable the turret to aim at 3D locations rather than just 2D coordinates, this feature was not successfully completed.

As a child, I built many LEGO Technic cars and noticed that simple turning mechanisms often led to issues. Most vehicles turned by rotating the wheels on one side faster than the other or even reversing one side. While this worked in many situations, it became inconsistent on certain surfaces and caused a lot of friction on the wheels. To address this, I designed a more efficient turning mechanism. I attached the wheels to two crossbars, one fixed to the main body and the other movable based on motor inputs. This was integrated into a functional LEGO car, which also included a rear differential, and it performed quite well overall.

I’ve owned a 3D printer for several years, and while I’ve had occasional minor issues, nothing major had happened until the extruder/thermistor failed, rendering the printer unusable. After trying multiple fixes, I decided to replace the extruder/hot end assembly entirely and upgraded to a new model. This process took quite a bit of time, as I had to combine some existing components with the new model and rewire part of the motherboard. Unfortunately, some of the parts I received were broken, forcing me to improvise by using old parts with the new ones. Despite the setbacks, I successfully resolved the issue and got the printer back in working order.

This project was a simple one, completed in a small group during high school. The goal was to design a "roller coaster" model that maximized the speed of the cart at the end of the track. Several track designs were considered by our group, including a straight line, an oval, a circular arc, a brachistochrone curve, and others. Although the mathematics suggested the final speed would be the same regardless of the track shape, we found that friction played a significant role in practice, affecting the results. Ultimately, we focused on designing a track that mimicked a circular arc, and the project went smoothly with the track proving to be very stable overall.