All projects

Since sixth grade

Journey in Robotics

From being stuck CADding my first VEX robot at home during COVID to captaining Team 1512 in FRC, I went through quite the robotics arc.

Six seasons of competition in VEX and FRC

Autonomous at Worlds

8th grade 15-second autonomous code

6th grade · 2020–21 · VEX Change Up

CovidBotics

The game that year had teams scoring red and blue balls into goal towers. My team envisioned building a snail bot but because everyone was new we didn't get much done.

A first VEX robot on the Change Up field beside a goal tower, red and blue balls on the tiles — First robot

The most consistent 15 second autonomous I have ever created

7th grade · 2021–22 · VEX Tipping Point · Team 7700K

A robot we called the shopping cart

Tipping Point was about grabbing yellow mobile goals and hoarding them while climbing a ramp. Our team decided on making a shopping cart. Later, we added the locking mechanism to combat the META (most effective tactic available) robots at Worlds.

The season ended at the 2022 World Championship, where we played the semifinals in the Dome on the main stage with thousands of robotics enthusiasts watching.

Semifinals in the Dome

2022 VEX World Championship, 7th grade. I am in the tan cap with the blue shirt on the left. Video by Kyu on YouTube.

Team 7700K's Tipping Point robot on a build table, a box-frame chassis for carrying mobile goals — The shopping cart

Team 7700K

A VEX metal clamp arm built to lock a mobile goal in place — Locking Clamp

Uses certain geometry to lock mobile goals

15-second autonomous

I spent over 2 months coding InchDrive to a perfectly precise length to get the most efficient goal steal. It was worth it when it caught up to a robot faster than us in the Dome.

8th grade · 2022–23 · VEX Spin Up

My love for catapults starts here

Spin Up was a game of launching discs into high goals, so my team designed a catapult powered by rubberbands and pistons. We were determined to advance further than we had the previous year by optimizing every part of our robot, from the end game string shooters to the intake's 1 watt system.

The Spin Up robot with its disc catapult and large drive wheels — The catapult

First catapult Design

Endgame

String launching video from our States bot

Skills practice

A full one-minute run with our robot starting at the top left. I am driving in the left with the tan shirt.

9th grade · 2023–24 · VEX Over Under · Team 7700R

My CAD Arc

This was the season the robot existed in CAD before it existed in metal. With the help of peers, I quickly was able to ramp up my skills to the point where it was faster to make my own Lego-like manuals of my robot.

Early CAD of the Over Under robot: drivebase and frame — First CAD

I made this during my World History Class

CAD of the reinforced drivebase — Optmized Drivebase

I made a drivebase that was structurally sound and had low center of gravity

CAD of the final Worlds robot with intake and hang mechanism — Worlds Design

A pancake bot that could do everything and still fit under a 10 cm gap

Odometry testing

The robot was able to do curves around the field

Team 7700R's robot hanging from the red elevation bar at the VEX World Championship, green triballs on the field behind it — Hanging at Worlds

After an intense match, we had one of the highest hangs for a pancake bot

The hang

A video of the climbing mechanism

9th grade · Side build

Micromouse

The small maze-solving robot that intrigued my freshman self and a couple seniors modelled in CAD with a circuit board cut to the shape of the chassis.

The micromouse's green printed circuit board, shaped to the chassis outline — The PCB

The PCB was attached with many IR and distance sensors and shaped to fit the fan, motors, and more.

Rolling Robots Academy · 2022–2025

Becoming a teacher

I spent some summers mentoring middle schoolers in CAD, Python, and C++, plus refereeing and running competitions. Explaining a gear ratio to a twelve-year-old also proved to myself that I knew the content I was teaching.

10th grade · 2024–25 · FRC Team 1512

Treading into FRC

At St. Paul's I moved up to FIRST Robotics with Team 1512. FRC made me built a robot 12.5 times heavier than my VEX robot. It introduced me to new electronics work: power distribution, CAN wiring, and the safety systems that keep a fast machine from hurting anyone. That season, we took second at the Salem High School FRC Invitational.

Team 1512's FRC robot in red bumpers, the frame and wiring visible — Team 1512

10th-grade Reefscapes robot

11th grade · 2025–26 · FRC Team 1512

Becoming the CAD Head

As a junior, I led CAD for the drivebase and shooter, and we won the UNH Invitational with the robot shown in this CAD model.

CAD model of Team 1512's FRC robot with intake and shooter — 11th-grade robot

Full CAD assembly

Awards

2026 · FRC

UNH Invitational Champions

2025 · FRC

Salem High School FRC Invitational, 2nd place

2024

Excalibur Event Champion

2024 · VEX · 7700R

VEX World Championship 3rd in Division, Over Under

2023 · VEX

VEX World Championship 6th in Division, Spin Up,

2022 · VEX · 7700K

VEX World Championship semifinals in dome, Tipping Point