My name is Joshua Aviles and I am a sophomore at Baker College majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering with a minor in Engineering Design. Here at Rice, I am an active participant in the Rice Robotics Battlebots(the featured image is my battlebot) and Rover club subdivisions. I am also a member of SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers) and Rice Powerlifting, a club I actually competed for at the end of last semester.

I have taken EDES 120, 200, and 301, as well as participated in a couple clubs stationed at the OEDK. This has given me the opportunity to work on a variety of projects. However, I think the project that I am most proud of is the Self-Balancing robot that I designed and built for my end of the semester project for EDES 301. This Self-Balancing robot was a two wheeled robot that was naturally unstable, but, through the actuators attached to the wheels and a PID algorithm, managed to constantly self correct itself and thus remain upright. The reason as to why I am particularly proud of this project is because it was the first time I designed a robot entirely on my own. In previous projects, I would either be in charge of mechanical or hardware aspects of a robot/machine. But for this project, I was working on the mechanical, electrical, and software components by myself. This gave me complete control of the project and a wonderful learning experience in Engineering Design.

With this class, I aim to become proficient in 3D printing and CNC milling. I wish to take these skills and apply them in both club and independent projects. For example, stronger 3D printing skills would help me build better robot chassis for hardware components and the ability to CNC mill would allow me to design and manufacture my own wheels for any future battlebots I build.