Mini Project 1
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Alex Carter
Engineering as a creative discipline.
I design, build, and break things that move — from autonomous robots and CNC-machined assemblies to high-performance vehicles.
/ 01 —Motorsport / Mechanical
Formula SAE Racecar
Chassis & Aerodynamics Lead
Designed the monocoque-tubular hybrid chassis and full aero package for a 220kg open-wheel racecar. Achieved 18% lap-time improvement over the prior season through CFD-validated aero and reduced unsprung mass.
SolidWorksCFDCarbon FibreFEAComposites
Top Speed
165 km/h
Weight
220 kg
Downforce
92 kg @ 80km/h
/ 02 —Robotics / Embedded
Autonomous Mars Rover
Mechatronics & Perception
Six-wheel rocker-bogie rover with stereo vision SLAM, ROS2 navigation stack and a 5-DOF arm. Won 2nd place at the University Rover Challenge regional qualifier.
ROS2C++Stereo VisionPCB DesignLinux
Payload
5 kg
Range
1.2 km
Autonomy
GNSS + Visual
/ 03 —Aerospace / Electronics
Long-Range FPV Drone
Custom Frame & Flight Stack
7-inch carbon frame with custom PDB, Betaflight tuning and a 5.8GHz analog/digital hybrid video link. Designed for 25-minute endurance freestyle and cinematic shots.
KiCadBetaflightCarbonRF Design
Endurance
25 min
Range
8 km
Thrust:Weight
5.4:1
/ 04 —EV / Power Electronics
Electric Go-Kart Conversion
Powertrain & Battery Pack
Converted a TaG kart to a 96V / 8kWh LiFePO4 platform with custom BMS, regen braking and a CAN-based dashboard. Hand-built pack with active balancing.
BMSCAN BusBattery Eng.Embedded C
Power
32 kW peak
0–60
3.9 s
Range
45 km
/ 05 —Fabrication / Mechatronics
Desktop 5-Axis CNC
Mechanical Design & Controls
Compact 5-axis CNC mill with trunnion table, ground ballscrews and a LinuxCNC-driven controller. Built to mill aluminium prototypes in-house.
LinuxCNCBallscrewsServo DrivesSheet Metal
Travel
300×200×150
Spindle
2.2 kW
Repeat
±15 µm
/ 06 —Biomechatronics
Powered Knee Exoskeleton
Actuation & Control Loop
Single-joint powered knee exo with a quasi-direct-drive actuator and torque-sensing transmission. Real-time gait phase estimation on an STM32.
STM32QDD ActuatorControlGait
Torque
60 Nm
Mass
1.4 kg
Loop
1 kHz
/ 07 —Aerospace / Embedded
1U CubeSat Bus
Structures & Power
Student-built 1U CubeSat bus with deployable solar panels, a magnetorquer ADCS and an STM32H7 OBC. Vibration-tested to NASA GEVS.
CubeSatADCSPowerVibration
Mass
1.1 kg
Power
4.2 W avg
Downlink
9.6 kbps UHF
/ 08 —Robotics
Open-Source Quadruped
Legged Locomotion
12-DOF quadruped using brushless QDD actuators and an MPC controller running on a Jetson. Trots, stands and recovers from pushes.
MPCROS2QDDJetson
Mass
9 kg
Speed
1.6 m/s
DoF
12
/ 09 —EV / Power Electronics
Mid-Drive E-Bike
Custom Motor Controller
Hand-built mid-drive e-bike with a custom FOC motor controller, torque-sensing bottom bracket and a CAN-connected display.
FOCCANTorque SensorEmbedded
Power
1.5 kW
Range
80 km
Top
55 km/h
/ 10 —Aerospace
Tilt-Rotor VTOL
Airframe & Flight Controls
Twin tilt-rotor VTOL with a carbon-foam wing, custom mixer and PX4-based flight stack. Hovers, transitions and cruises at 22 m/s.
PX4CompositesAeroControls
Wingspan
1.6 m
Cruise
22 m/s
Endurance
45 min
/ 11 —Power Electronics
Liquid-Cooled Inverter
Thermal & Packaging
200 kW SiC traction inverter with a brazed cold plate, integrated busbars and a CAN-FD control board. Validated on a back-to-back dyno.
SiCThermalBusbarCAN-FD
Power
200 kW
Efficiency
98.4%
Mass
8.2 kg
/ 12 —Robotics / Manipulation
6-DOF Robot Arm
Harmonic Drives & Vision
Tabletop 6-DOF arm with harmonic drive joints, a wrist-mounted camera and MoveIt2-based pick-and-place. Repeatability under 0.1 mm.
MoveIt2Harmonic DriveVisionROS2
Reach
650 mm
Payload
2 kg
Repeat
±0.1 mm
Smaller Builds
Side projects, experiments, and one-offs.
Mini Project 2
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Mini Project 3
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Mini Project 4
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/ Contact
Let's build something fast.
Open to internships, collaborations, and ambitious side-projects.
alex@example.com→© 2026 — Designed & built in the workshop