Select Projects Throughout High School
Control of a Pneumatic Actuator using Pulse Width Modulation
Inspired by a limitation I experienced in both my FIRST robotics team and in WPI’s Women's Research and Mentorship Program, I tried my hand at changing what was previously thought of as a two-state actuator to a spectrum of control. My system was inexpensive and based on a unique configuration of solenoid valves. This project was recognized by the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in 2020, and also by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) in 2021.
More information can be found in the research reports, linked below.
Distance and temperature sensor assisted automated contact tracing
A brief independent research project supported by MIT Beaver Works as part of the PACT (Private Automated Contact Tracing) collaboration.
My initial research suggested that RSSI alone was not accurate enough to determine COVID-19 at-risk distances, and so I augmented it with a wearable remote sensor concept that accurately measured distance to include with the RSSI data, as well as temperate. This was based on a raspberry pi using python.
More information can be found in the research report, linked below.
Serious game design and development with AI
Team coding project using python. Selected to join MIT Beaver Works. We extended a game that describes the outbreak of a highly-contagious disease threatening a densely populated, urban area. Individuals who had contracted the disease formed a zombie population. The objective of the game was to explore the efficacy of public health policies designed to deal with traditional disease outbreaks as applied to different infection models, methods and rates. We extended the game into different archetypes with different capabilities, propagation models, needs, and goals.
Design and control strategies for a walking humanoid robot
Four person team. Selected to join the Women's Research and Mentorship Program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where I was able to join a graduate student in their research as we built upon an existing humanoid walking robot to more accurately represent the human gait cycle. I wrote an Arduino reference generator using C for the hip, knee, and ankle joints and gathered data on a treadmill using an Inertial Measurement Unit with a program I developed.
More information can be found in the research poster, linked below.
Bluetooth controlled color changing lamp
My first Arduino based project was a color changing lamp that only came on when it was dark and randomly cycled through the spectrum of colors. I added bluetooth to it and created an iPhone app using the Blynk platform that allowed the user to set the darkness threshold, brightness, and speed of the cycle. I also designed a PCB shield to plug the circuit on top of the Arduino.
Roshambo (rock-paper-scissors) Robotic Hand
My first real Mindstorms project after building the kit robots was a hand that could play rock-paper-scissors.
This was no ordinary hand since it had a camera that could read what you were about to throw and act accordingly. It had the ability to always win, lose or be random, and would tell the user who won. The 'shark' mode shown in the video would initially lose, be random for a while, and then continue to win.
More information can be found in the presentation, linked below.
