Velan
Natarajan

Mid-season, with a Worlds slot already secured, we replaced our proven drivetrain with a coaxial swerve: four independently steered wheel modules, with drive and steering torque delivered through concentric shafts.

I owned the mechanical design and CAD in Onshape, from module packaging and gear selection to serviceability under competition time pressure. Making four modules behave like one drivetrain took sustained iteration on both the mechanical and software sides, and taught me how tightly the two are coupled in a machine like this. I'm also the team's primary driver, so every packaging decision I make in CAD is one I answer for on the field.

The debugged swerve now lives on an 18 in × 18 in skeleton frame built for one job: answering intake questions before the next season starts. The core problem is a compliant roller intake against rigid game pieces, where the roller has to do all the compressing.

The mount I designed uses indexed, repeatable adjustment positions, so every roller and axle configuration is tested against the same reference instead of an eyeballed setup. Vision-guided autonomous pickup is being developed in parallel by a teammate; the platform is designed so both efforts share one chassis.

Five years of youth leadership in Troop 58, working up through Patrol Leader, Instructor, and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader to Senior Patrol Leader: responsible for a troop of roughly 50 Scouts, its weekly meetings, annual program planning, and monthly leadership councils.

Along the way: the White Stag Sierra Leadership Development Program, Scouting's Triple Crown of High Adventure at Philmont Scout Ranch, Florida Sea Base, and Northern Tier, and an Eagle Scout service project now in progress.