Autonomous Vacuum Cleaner

As part of a third-year Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) design course, I collaborated with a team of four to design and prototype the "Dust-Eater" — an autonomous commercial vacuum robot. The project spanned the full engineering design process, from requirements gathering and House of Quality analysis through to a functional prototype built within a $500 budget. Key systems included an ESP32-based custom PCB with Wi-Fi app control, NEMA 17 stepper motors with a 4:1 gear reduction drivetrain, ultrasonic obstacle avoidance, and a multi-stage HEPA filtration system. Sustainability was a core design pillar, with recycled HDPE selected as the primary material following SolidWorks Life Cycle Analysis, supported by a lease-based circular economy business model. The project involved three iterative PCB revisions and multiple mechanical redesigns, successfully validating all core functional requirements by the final demonstration.