Hi! I'm Aayu! I'm an aspiring Mechanical Engineer and FIRST Robotics Alum. I've built robots, led teams and taken ideas from mere sketches to fully fabricated assemblies. I'm skilled in CAD, CAM, Machining (3 Axis CNC Mills, laser-cutters and Manual lathes), carpentry and more.
Outside the shop, I'm just as curious (and just as handy). I enjoy philosophy and metaphysics and find myself reading Indian philosophical texts such as the Upanishads. I've also spent time speed cubing, weight lifting, practice taekwondo and boxing, cooking, photography, biking and sketching.
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CAD
CAD is one of the strongest skills I've built. I have poured over 1000 hours learning top down modelling and parametric design which has helped me develop a crazy fast FRC CAD workflow. I have designed over 20 Robots. My workflow allows me to able to CAD a full FRC robot, from scratch to every bolt in place in less than 20hours. My other CAD projects Includes things like a kinematic karambit, PID visualizing box, 4 DOF desk robot, custom dual-cim swerve module, 12 DOF hexapod collapsing robot, surface modelled Rubik's cube show stands.
I aim to keep honing my CAD skills and delve deeper into complex surface modelling and generative design.
FRC Robots
I led the design, fabrication and assembly of team 2583 Orange Dynamite's robots in the 2024 and 2025 seasons. 2583 has built its most robust and competitive robots under my leadership.
Both years, I have been the CAD lead and did most of the CAD work. DepthCharge, the 2025 robot shot the team's EPA up from 1500s to 1600s. We were also 2nd alliance captains at one of our district competitions and were finalists as well. At states, we got picked and got to play in eliminations, and nearly made worlds. This was exponential progress for the team, and I'm grateful that I was able to contribute to its progress by leading the CAD, design, fabrication and assembly of the best robot this team has ever built as of 2025. I will continue to be a design and fabrication consultee for this team as an alum.
QUARANTINE
Quarantine has to be one of my favorite projects I've worked on.
Quarantine is a 4-DOF robot that is powered by Westwood Robotics' 'Bear' actuators. The Bear series actuators are mind-bending. They have live-compliance which lets the actuators "act" like springs and dampers. It also has an incredible amount of torque for how small they are.
I am fortunate to have gotten the priveldge to work with these actuators, as a grant from CEO himself. Quarantine has 2 joints, a wrist and a claw. The architecture is made with aluminum box-tubes and skeletonized 1/4 6061-T1 aluminum plates. This makes the robot very lightweight and rigid, most of the weight from the robot is from the dense actuators themselves. I solo designed, fabricated and assembled Quarantine.
The robot is still a work in progress, I am working with a robotics classmate to understand the firmware of the actuators and program the robot using IK.
Once Quarantine is running, I plan on adding a swivel to the base of the robot to increase its work envelope and design a differential wrist for the end effector.
FABRICATION
Machining and fabrication are some of my favorite creative outlets, other than design. I have experience with FDM 3D printing, laser cutting, turning, milling, and using various power tools such as routers, the Shaper Origin, and bandsaws.
I’ve machined precision parts for robotics on a PM-1022V lathe, along with various personal projects made for leisure. I was one of the few students at my school to fully learn and master the lathe, including regular maintenance and mechanical repairs. I’ve trained many students and authored the official lathe training course for my school. I have experience turning steel, brass, aluminum, and even doing woodturning.
For CNC milling, I have experience using Mach3Mill to operate an Omio X4-800L and program 3-axis CAM in Fusion 360. I’ve helped machine sheet metal and polycarbonate parts for over five different robotics teams.
Beyond metal, I’m also comfortable with woodworking tools, having built projects like stools and simple parts carts out of wood. And then, of course, I can slice and run 3D-printers, and have experience with repairing Bambu and Prusa 3D printers.
REVISION ZERO
Revision Zero is a fast-paced CAD project I took on over the summer (2025). I modelled a FSAE car (No Aero) in 14 days from scratch. All non-COTS parts were designed by me from scratch. The goal of the project for me was to get a really good idea of what goes into a FSAE car, the workflow behind one, and how to go about modelling a car, and the various geometrical constraints. For this project, I had to do research and learn conceptual stuff like bolt grades, material behavior, metallurgy basics, stress and deformation. And more racecar specific stuff like camber-toe geometry, powertrain (electric ), suspension and steering, chassis design, aero components, cooling system etc. This car only needs bodywork and fasteners to be finished (fasteners were accounted for, just not in CAD). Since I only gave myself 2 weeks, I had to skip the bodywork and CFD.
LEADERSHIP
Over the past three years, I’ve taken on multiple leadership roles in both the robotics team and the school makerspace. I was sub team lead and CAD lead in '24 and Robot Director '25, overseeing team management, recruitment, rostering and training. In '23 I was the head of makerspace committee and the robotics workspace went through many upgrades and changes to make the shop more efficient. Along with makerspace organization, I also served as Safety Coordinator and Quartermaster, enforcing safety protocols and managing the inventory of tools and partsI’ve helped organize outreach events such as our Warrior-Fest booth and RoboCamp. Warrior-Fest introduces incoming high schoolers to student clubs, while RoboCamp is an annual summer program that engages elementary and middle schoolers with STEM and robotics. I also led the CAD design for RaccoonBot, a robot built to clean up public spaces, and have volunteered at over seven robotics competitions.
Raw Photos taken on a Canon Powershot A2300, not the fanciest camera
Renders I've done on Fusion.
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