Charlotte Folinus Mechanical Engineering Portfolio

p o rt f o li o CHARLO TTE F OLINUS me chanical en gin eer

a b o ut m e I am passionate about thoughtful, technical design for innovation. As an undergraduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I study Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Product Development. Sparked by a childhood of prototyping with cardboard tubes and LEGOs, I am a lifelong tinkerer and always striving to understand the inner workings of the mechanisms that surround me.

c ontact

linkedin.com /in/cfolinus c.f ol inus@m it . ed u 404-245-14 22

I care deeply about mechanical design and about how users interact with products/ devices. I am easily excitable and adapt quickly to learn the skills for new projects or obstacles. As a student and leader, I value the people I work with and learn from. I am always learning new things each day and am excited to continue to learn all that I can about engineering and life.

When I’m not studying, CADing, or in the machine shop, you can find me running, exploring Boston with my friends, playing the cello, or making a playlist.

con te nt s

engineeri ng proje cts

calculated imagination - 06 weight lifting device - 10 flat light simulation - 12 intro to design - 14 robotics research - 16 line following car - 17

leade rshi p + service teaching - israel - 20 MIT sports lab - 21 pi beta phi - 21 pi tau sigma - 21

e ng ine e ri n g p ro j e cts acade mic + perso nal

c alc ulate d im a g i n a t i o n MIT’s beloved 2.007 (Design and Manufacturing I) requires students to use materials supplied in a universal kit to individually create individually which accomplish tasks and score points in a final competition. The game board my year, inspired by Willy Wonka (“Calculated Imagination” instead of pure imagination), featured many ways to score.

After performing initial calculations on points, torque, and power requirements, I used Pugh charts to first select a strategy and later a design concept. Over the course of the semester, I used almost every manufacturing method available, from hand tools to the lathe and water jet. However, I relied heavily on rapid prototyping methods, particularly the laser cutter, to ideate quickly and test various designs.

I ultimately chose to create a robot to lift the inner gummy bear. I also aimed to make a device to lift the oompa loompa (in the clear tube) and climb the 60° hill to pull the lollipop multiplier.

After selecting a strategy, I brainstormed a variety of design concepts. Experience gained from quick prototypes and CAD mockups of several ideas helped me choose the criterion for concept selection.

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c alc ulate d im a g i n a t i o n I thoroughly enjoyed this project and both the freedom and responsibility it allowed me. I spent countless hours in the shop iterating through design concepts and refining my robots. By scoring in the top 16 students (out of ~150) during the semester, I achieved my goal of qualifying automatically to the second day of the competition.

Despite issues with driving during my competition round, I am proud of my final robots as each of their modules worked smoothly and repeatably.

In recognition of my persistence and dedication to my robots, I received the Edison Award after the competition. I also received the Golden Broom Award from the shop staff for my commitment to maintaining the shop.

Far left: One of my final robots shown in its stored configuration, ready for competition!

Near left: The final version of my other robot, shown with the tape measure partially extended and tilted.

Far left: The Golden Broom Award, which I received for taking care of the shop.

Near left: My well-loved notebooks.

I used these for everything from brainstorming to engineering drawings and planning time in lab.

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c alc ulate d im a g i n a t i o n My first robot, designed to lift the inner gummy bear, featured a telescoping linear lift and a robust drive base. My final design uses bended sheet metal frames separated by small pieces of acrylic which both provide a sliding surface and act as mechanical stops to prevent overextension.

Throughout the semester, I created a range of prototypes, including foam core models, bench level tests, and CAD assemblies, along with physically creating the components.

Far left: Page from notebook with diagram of sliding mechanism.

Near left, top: Variations of a part used for testing. I tested several sliding materials as well as their thicknesses to find a balance between constraining the stages and creating too much friction.

Near left, bottom: Gantt chart used to track project progress.

Calculations for ideal winch radius to optimize motor power. Although iterating and creating physical models was helpful, I also used calculations to inform design decisions.

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c alc ulate d im a g i n a t i o n My second robot, designed to autonomously lift the oompa loompa before climbing the hill and pulling the multiplier during the manual control portion, utilized a pinch wheel and spring system to control the extension of a tape measure. A hook on the end of the tape measure allowed it to both attach to the top of the multiplier lever and to ascend the oompa loompa tube without buckling. The drive base features a rail climbing mechanism that lets the robot use the t-rail to easily climb the hill without tipping or slipping.

The clear acrylic frame made the module easy to fabricate and understand. This allowed me to quickly add features, such as a tipper and the cut out to avoid collision with the rail when climbing the hill.

I experimented with a variety of variety of hook shapes before finding a simple shape that worked well (bottom row, center).

CAD (Solidworks) was an invaluable tool in determining geometries. I created a model of the t-rail (wood piece) to determine proper rail grabber and motor placement.

While I made engineering drawings for the “skis� for the rail climbing mechanism, testing revealed a need for different geometries achieved by sanding the pieces. I used the same hole pattern to create a variety of ski geometries.

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w ei gh t lif tin g d e vi ce The W8X Pro utilizes an electric motor to create variable resistance, removing the need for static and inefficient weight stacks and instead allowing for dynamic variance of resistance within each repetition. The device measures and collects velocity, force, and power metrics to quantify progress, ensuring each athlete gets the ideal workout.

Furthermore, the device mounts to various surfaces, providing a workout utilizing all muscle groups without additional equipment.

Due to the proprietary nature of the work and the patent process, I cannot include many specifics about my projects. At W8X, I performed a variety of mechanical design research, both designing various internal components and creating test standards to match field use. After designing my parts in CAD, I manufactured them through a variety of methods.

Rendering of module shown attached to base platform, with mobile app loaded.

Demo/alpha prototype used for MIT’s Delta V pitches in Cambridge, New York, and San Francisco.

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w ei gh t lif tin g d e vi ce As part of a small team of five mechanical engineers, I also worked closely with the three founders to help shape the brand image. I joined the team in Summer 2017 while the company participated in both the MIT Delta V and MassChallenge accelerators. In addition to receiving $25K in funding from the MIT Sandbox program, we received the $50K Gold Award from MassChallenge.

Many of my components were directly incorporated in our alpha prototype which was used for pitches and demonstrations across the United States for both professional coaches and potential investors.

Testing a version of the product at a professional training facility. Of the course of several months, we worked with coaches in an iterative process to identify areas of improvement and make modifications.

Rope samples after Instron testing.

Previous user testing revealed rope degradation after sustained use. As a result, I created a testing setup to abrade ropes and then test their altered material properties on an Instron.

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fl at l igh t s imul a ti o n As part of 2.s983 (Sports Technology: Innovation and Engineering, taught by Peko Hosoi and Christina Chase), I simulated flat light, a dangerous condition for skiers caused by the refraction of light through clouds and snow in the air. To do this, I designed and assembled a testing apparatus to simulate the conditions in interior conditions. Working with Shred Optics, I captured and analyzed images and athlete perceptions using goggles under these simulated flat light conditions. We quantified goggles through image capture and measured athlete perceptions through extended user testing of a variety of goggles.

Above: A middle-stage iteration shown with goggle lenses mounted.

Users rated their vision through each of thirteen contrast-enhancing goggles (left) compared to the baseline lens (right).

Left: An initial concept sketch of the testing setup showing diffuse panels, a camera, an artificial snow landscape, and full spectrum lights.

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fl at l igh t s imul a ti o n

As the Team Lead and Financial Officer, I organized our team's strategic efforts and led communication with our sponsors, technical advisors, and professors. I also managed our $1000 budget and coordinated our testing schedule with subjects.

MATLAB was used to identify image characteristics and correlate these with user preferences to identify the features which were most correlated to strong user preference.

My team’s work was highlighted as MIT’s Spotlight on January 30, 2018 in the buildup to the 2018 Winter Olympics.

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i n tro to de s ign As part of an introductory mechanical engineering design class (2.00, Introduction to Design), I worked with teams of four on two design projects.

For the first project we were tasked with creating a device to place and retrieve a ball in a nest located nine feet away but were constrained to materials such as foam core and plastic cups. During the “presentations,” teams had five minutes to score as many points as possible by repeatedly placing and retrieving the ball. Our device rotated to place the ball in the nest and had mechanism to catch the ball as it left the nest. This allowed us to rapidly score without letting the ball fall to the ground. My team placed second out of nine teams in the competition.

Although the project was not incredibly technical, I worked on ways to ensure the stability of our device by protecting against the bending and torsion associated with its length.

Above: Final “presentation” of our device (left) in cooperation with our partner team.

Right: Testing our final device to identify failure methods and practice scoring.

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i n tro to de s ign Our second project focused on our user, a volunteer at MIT's on-campus radio station who spends most of his time there filing CD's in the station's over-crowded shelves. He struggled with reading CD spines on the lowest shelf, which added time and physical pain to his daily routine.

To resolve this pain point, we chose to create a device to move the bottom shelf to a readable height. Our device, the Shelf Elf, consists of two spring-activated four bar linkages mounted to the body of the main shelf along a sliding rack. To access these CDs, the user simply slides the shelf and lifts it by pulling on the handles. The Shelf Elf is able to lift an ~10 pound shelf of CDs about 10 inches, which is a height readable by sitting on a stool next to the shelf, as the user already does. However, future work could pursue raising the CDs higher to further eliminate this pain point.

Unfortunately, one of the four bar linkages was slightly deformed when it arrived, meaning that the CD shelf would not slide along parallel tracks. I came up with the idea to fix one of the sliding tracks using a pin joint at the front edge, which allowed the track to pivot/rotate as the shelf slid out. This idea worked, allowing the CD shelf to smoothly slide.

Sketch of how the mechanism works. User simply slides shelf out and lightly lifts to raise the shelf.

Device shown in the lifted position with a full rack of CD’s.

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ro bo ti c s research As part of the Newman Lab for Biomechanics and Human Rehabilitation, led by Professor Neville Hogan, I investigated human perception of motion and impedance in the upper body (arm). By simulating motion in MATLAB, programming the Baxter robot, and creating musculoskeletal simulations, I modeled human motion. I also worked with human subjects to collect data on impedance perception to inform future work.

My conference paper on this work (“Visual Perception of Stiffness�) was accepted to the 2017 International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), and I presented at the 2017 Mechanical Engineering Research Exposition (MERE).

Additionally, I received the Douglas G. (1972) and Sara G. Bailey UROP fund, an fund established to support undergraduates performing research within Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Top: MATLAB GUI I created to simulate upper arm motion and gather subject responses.

Right: Group results for three experiments. ANOVA of arm stiffness ratings revealed significant main effects of simulated stiffness on stiffness rating, showing that subjects can visually perceive changes in stiffness.

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l i ne follo win g ca r For an Electronics for Mechanical Systems class at MIT, I programmed a line following robot. Using IR sensors, the robot followed a black line drawn on a white background.

Programmed in Arduino, the robot utilized PD control to ensure smooth, tight turns and allow the robot to continue when it reached breaks in the course.

While I worked with a partner on this project, she had never coded before, making this a challenge for her. She helped think of ways to improve our code which I then worked to implement and walk her through so that she could better understand.

Photo of my robot navigating the course, shown with a few of the obstacles and challenges on the course.

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le ade rsh i p + s er vi ce

t e ac h ing - is ra e l MIT’s Independent Activities Period (IAP), which takes place between the fall and spring semesters, gives students the flexibility to work at companies across the country, take unique courses, or participate in a number of global programs. As part of the Global Teaching Laboratories program, students spend IAP in a number of countries across the globe teaching topics in a variety of STEM fields.

Eager to experience a new part of the world (the Middle East) while sharing my knowledge with younger students, I spent my 2018 IAP at Alonei Yitzhak, a boarding school in rural Israel both for native Israelis as well as immigrants from ex-Soviet countries.

Working with a partner, I designed and implemented over 80 hours of curriculum covering several topics for students in grades 7-11. Based off of the school’s desires as well as the students’s interests, I focused on engineering design concepts and the basics of Arduino-programmed systems. I created a number of workshops on engineering problem solving and robotics topics, including a “build day,” in which students worked in teams to use materials to build towers, support heavy objects, etc.

Above: Demonstration with switches and Arduino to control LEDs, teaching basic programming.

Left: My partner and I with one group of our students.

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MI T spo rts lab lead, MIT Sports Summit In the buildup to the MIT Sports Summit, I worked with a group of students to plan and organize the event. In addition to assisting with day-of logistics, I created a resume book to highlight the program’s students and coordinated a Startup Showcase with both pitches and live demonstrations teaching assistant, 2.s983 As a TA for 2.s983, I created peer reviews for ~30 students, helped organize guest presentations from leaders in the sports technology industry, and helped advise student teams on their projects.

pi beta ph i vice president of membership As the Vice President of Membership, I organize the recruitment and retention of over 100 members. By working with the campus Panhellenic Association, I improve rules to ensure fair recruitment processes for all chapters. Within my chapter, I design workshops to cover critical topics such as conversation skills and teach members how to best represent our values alternate panhellenic delegate As the Alternate Panhellenic Delegate, I helped shape campus policies regarding the Panhellenic community. I participated in weekly MIT Panhellenic Association meetings and voted on a variety of issues affecting the undergraduate community

pi ta u sigma secretary As the Secretary of Pi Tau Sigma, I work with the Executive Board on all aspects of the membership and service experience. I organize member dinners, student-faculty lunches, and study breaks. I also communicate with the national organization and with university administration.

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