Muhammad Ahmad

Mechatronics Engineering

Personal Projects

RC Lawn Mower(In Progress)

Overview
An ongoing individual project to design and build a fully remote-controlled lawn mower with a modular, fully 3D-printable chassis. The mower is engineered for adaptability, compactness, and manufacturability with standard 3D printers.Key Features
- Adjustable chassis size using modular 3D-printed components for scalability and customization
- Wireless communication system where remote signals are received and processed by a microcontroller
- Integrated motor drivers for drive motors (movement) and direct control of blade spinning
- Design optimized for complete 3D printability, ensuring easy fabrication and assemblyTechnical Difficulties & Solutions
- Scalability of design: Addressed printer size limitations by modularizing the chassis into smaller, connectable units.
- Reliable wireless control: Implemented a robust microcontroller-based communication link to process remote inputs without latency.
- Power and motor coordination: Integrated motor drivers to manage drive and blade motors efficiently, ensuring smooth operation.Impact (Expected)
- Provides a cost-effective, customizable alternative to commercial RC mowers
- Showcases ability to combine mechanical design, embedded systems, and manufacturing for a practical real-world application
- Ongoing project that demonstrates iterative prototyping and engineering problem-solving

Ridesharing App

Overview
RideNow is a full-stack ride-sharing MVP (similar to Uber/Lyft) that allows riders to request trips, drivers to accept them, and both parties to track rides in real time.Key Features
- Rider & Driver apps built with React Native (Expo Router, TypeScript)
- Automated nearest-driver assignment with fallback if rejected
- Real-time tracking with Mapbox routing & address autocomplete
- In-app messaging between riders and drivers
- Stripe payments: estimate → card on file → auto-charge at completion + tippingTechnical Stack
- Frontend: React Native (Expo SDK 54, TypeScript)
- Backend: Flask (Python) with SQLAlchemy (SQLite for MVP)
- Mapping: Mapbox Directions + Geocoding APIs
- Payments: Stripe API for secure transactions
- Deployment: Expo (Android/iOS apps)Technical Difficulties & Solutions
- Efficient ride matching: Built a geospatial filter using the haversine formula to assign drivers within 7 km, ensuring fairness and reducing wait times.
- Stable real-time tracking: Designed a polling-based system for location and messaging updates that balances responsiveness with performance, without relying on WebSockets.
- Secure payments: Integrated Stripe with payment intents and card-on-file storage, then automated final fare charging + tipping at ride completion.
- Smooth map experience: Implemented Mapbox Directions + Geocoding APIs for address autocomplete, route drawing, and reverse geocoding, ensuring rider/driver maps update seamlessly.
- Code scalability: Structured backend routes in Flask and used React Context (`UserProvider`, `useUser()`) to keep state management clean and modular, making new features easy to add.Impact
Created a functioning ride-sharing MVP, demonstrating full-stack development, API integration, and real-world problem-solving skills.

Group Projects

Autonomous Marble Collector

Overview
An autonomous ESP32-based robot designed to collect and sort green-colored gems in an unstructured 25 m² arena under a strict 2-minute time limit. The system combined custom mechanical design, embedded programming, and robust sensing to deliver reliable autonomous performance.Key Features
- Fully modeled in SolidWorks with modularized assembly to fit small 3D printer build plates
- Dynamic color-based detection calibrated at startup, replacing unreliable ultrasonic sensors
- Elastic-band collection grid with front-gate verification system to prevent misalignment errors
- RGB normalization and brightness-based object detection to handle variable lighting conditions
- Redesigned battery mount to correct balance and prevent drift during navigationTechnical Difficulties & Solutions
- Sensor reliability: Replaced ultrasonic detection with calibrated color sensors for consistent gem recognition.
- Collection interference: Engineered a front gate verification and flow control system to prevent jams and misalignment in the elastic-band grid.
- Lighting challenges: Normalized RGB values and adopted brightness-based thresholds to achieve robust detection in changing arena conditions.
- Mechanical balance: Identified center-of-mass offset in battery placement and redesigned mount to eliminate veering.Impact
- Only team to collect gems accurately in both final competition runs
- Robot achieved consistent and reliable autonomous performance without picking up incorrect objects
- Demonstrated strength in end-to-end engineering: CAD, embedded systems, controls, and testing

Recipe Ingredient FinderText

Overview
A group project that built a recipe and ingredient discovery tool, allowing users to input a dish and their postal code to receive recipe suggestions, nutrition facts, and nearby restaurant options.Key Features
- Recipe and ingredient suggestions generated dynamically based on user input
- Nutrition values of ingredients retrieved using the Spoonacular API
- Geolocation-based restaurant search to find nearby places serving the chosen dish
- Combined multiple external APIs into a single, user-friendly interfaceTechnical Difficulties & Solutions
- Data integration: Handled varying response formats across multiple APIs (recipes, nutrition, restaurants) by designing a unified parsing layer.
- Accuracy of nutrition data: Implemented Spoonacular API queries with validation and error handling to ensure reliable ingredient values.
- Location-based search: Managed inconsistent geolocation results by adding postal-code validation and fallback mechanisms.Impact
- Delivered a full-stack proof-of-concept showcasing API integration and user-focused design
- Helped users explore recipes, understand nutrition, and locate restaurants conveniently in one system

Hands-Free Rollator

Overview
A mobility aid innovation project focused on designing an extension for a standard rollator to enable one-handed operation, improving accessibility for semi-paralyzed users.Key Features
- One-handed steering enabled through a pelvic-belt mechanism with rods linked to both rollator handles
- Linked brake system engineered with a wire loop so one brake lever simultaneously controls both wheels
- Designed as a retrofit extension, allowing integration with existing rollators without full replacementTechnical Difficulties & Solutions
- Steering control: Translated pelvic bone motion into handlebar movement through a rod linkage system, ensuring stability and responsiveness.
- Braking consistency: Designed and tested a dual-brake linkage so that force from one lever distributes evenly to both brakes.
- User adaptability: Prototyped the extension as an add-on module to ensure compatibility across different rollator models.Impact
- Created a low-cost accessibility enhancement for semi-paralyzed users
- Improved mobility and independence without requiring specialized rollators
- Demonstrated practical application of mechanical design and human-centered engineering principles