PRJ-01 · UCSC Mechatronics

IR tracking, motion and projectile mechanics, power distribusion

Outcome: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet: a fully autonomous robot that located beacons, navigated the field, and delivered payloads on target, completing the final competition course. I designed the sensing and state machine architecture that drove every decision the robot made.

Laser cut mechatronics robot with honeycomb paneling on workbench
Fig. 1 — Final robot on the competition field. [Replace with staged, well-lit hero photo.]

What I Did

  • Architected the hierarchical state machine controlling all autonomous behavior, lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
  • Designed and soldered the beacon detection circuit: bandpass filter, peak detector, comparator.
  • Wrote embedded C for event driven sensing, motor control, and edge detection.
  • Fabricated the drivetrain and chassis using laser cut MDF and 3D printed mounts.

Motivation

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. The course challenge: build a robot from scratch in ten weeks, a hard budget cap, a fixed parts kit, and a competition field with active IR beacons and track wire. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore.

Placeholder: early prototype
Fig. 2 — Early drivetrain prototype. [Show process, not just the hero.]
Placeholder: sensing circuit
Fig. 3 — Beacon detection circuit on protoboard. [Annotate key stages.]

Results

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, the robot completed the full course autonomously. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident: what didn't work on the first iteration, what we changed, and what I'd do differently next time.

Technical Details

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet: 2 kHz / 25 kHz beacon discrimination via active bandpass filtering, hysteresis thresholds, tape sensors for field boundary detection, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Placeholder: state machine diagram
Fig. 4 — Top level state machine. [Replace with actual diagram.]
Full Report ([page count] pages)

Full written report covering design derivations, stage-by-stage measurements, and iteration notes.

Open PDF →
Role
Embedded & circuits lead
Team
3 students
Timeline
10 weeks
Context
UCSC Mechatronics
Tools
C, PIC32, KiCad, laser cutter, 3D printing
Skills
State machines · Analog sensing · Motor control · Rapid prototyping
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