Engineering • Robotics • Fabrication

Alex Carter

Engineering as a creative discipline.

I design, build, and break things that move — from autonomous robots and CNC-machined assemblies to high-performance vehicles.

/ 01Motorsport / Mechanical

Formula SAE Racecar

Chassis & Aerodynamics Lead

Designed the monocoque-tubular hybrid chassis and full aero package for a 220kg open-wheel racecar. Achieved 18% lap-time improvement over the prior season through CFD-validated aero and reduced unsprung mass.

SolidWorksCFDCarbon FibreFEAComposites
Top Speed
165 km/h
Weight
220 kg
Downforce
92 kg @ 80km/h
Website

/ 02Robotics / Embedded

Autonomous Mars Rover

Mechatronics & Perception

Six-wheel rocker-bogie rover with stereo vision SLAM, ROS2 navigation stack and a 5-DOF arm. Won 2nd place at the University Rover Challenge regional qualifier.

ROS2C++Stereo VisionPCB DesignLinux
Payload
5 kg
Range
1.2 km
Autonomy
GNSS + Visual

/ 03Aerospace / Electronics

Long-Range FPV Drone

Custom Frame & Flight Stack

7-inch carbon frame with custom PDB, Betaflight tuning and a 5.8GHz analog/digital hybrid video link. Designed for 25-minute endurance freestyle and cinematic shots.

KiCadBetaflightCarbonRF Design
Endurance
25 min
Range
8 km
Thrust:Weight
5.4:1

/ 04EV / Power Electronics

Electric Go-Kart Conversion

Powertrain & Battery Pack

Converted a TaG kart to a 96V / 8kWh LiFePO4 platform with custom BMS, regen braking and a CAN-based dashboard. Hand-built pack with active balancing.

BMSCAN BusBattery Eng.Embedded C
Power
32 kW peak
0–60
3.9 s
Range
45 km

/ 05Fabrication / Mechatronics

Desktop 5-Axis CNC

Mechanical Design & Controls

Compact 5-axis CNC mill with trunnion table, ground ballscrews and a LinuxCNC-driven controller. Built to mill aluminium prototypes in-house.

LinuxCNCBallscrewsServo DrivesSheet Metal
Travel
300×200×150
Spindle
2.2 kW
Repeat
±15 µm

/ 06Biomechatronics

Powered Knee Exoskeleton

Actuation & Control Loop

Single-joint powered knee exo with a quasi-direct-drive actuator and torque-sensing transmission. Real-time gait phase estimation on an STM32.

STM32QDD ActuatorControlGait
Torque
60 Nm
Mass
1.4 kg
Loop
1 kHz

/ 07Aerospace / Embedded

1U CubeSat Bus

Structures & Power

Student-built 1U CubeSat bus with deployable solar panels, a magnetorquer ADCS and an STM32H7 OBC. Vibration-tested to NASA GEVS.

CubeSatADCSPowerVibration
Mass
1.1 kg
Power
4.2 W avg
Downlink
9.6 kbps UHF

/ 08Robotics

Open-Source Quadruped

Legged Locomotion

12-DOF quadruped using brushless QDD actuators and an MPC controller running on a Jetson. Trots, stands and recovers from pushes.

MPCROS2QDDJetson
Mass
9 kg
Speed
1.6 m/s
DoF
12

/ 09EV / Power Electronics

Mid-Drive E-Bike

Custom Motor Controller

Hand-built mid-drive e-bike with a custom FOC motor controller, torque-sensing bottom bracket and a CAN-connected display.

FOCCANTorque SensorEmbedded
Power
1.5 kW
Range
80 km
Top
55 km/h

/ 10Aerospace

Tilt-Rotor VTOL

Airframe & Flight Controls

Twin tilt-rotor VTOL with a carbon-foam wing, custom mixer and PX4-based flight stack. Hovers, transitions and cruises at 22 m/s.

PX4CompositesAeroControls
Wingspan
1.6 m
Cruise
22 m/s
Endurance
45 min

/ 11Power Electronics

Liquid-Cooled Inverter

Thermal & Packaging

200 kW SiC traction inverter with a brazed cold plate, integrated busbars and a CAN-FD control board. Validated on a back-to-back dyno.

SiCThermalBusbarCAN-FD
Power
200 kW
Efficiency
98.4%
Mass
8.2 kg

/ 12Robotics / Manipulation

6-DOF Robot Arm

Harmonic Drives & Vision

Tabletop 6-DOF arm with harmonic drive joints, a wrist-mounted camera and MoveIt2-based pick-and-place. Repeatability under 0.1 mm.

MoveIt2Harmonic DriveVisionROS2
Reach
650 mm
Payload
2 kg
Repeat
±0.1 mm

/ Experience

A trajectory of building.

  1. 2025
    Mechanical Engineering Intern
    Lucid Motors — Powertrain

    Inverter thermal validation & dyno testing for next-gen motors.

  2. 2024
    Chassis Lead
    Formula SAE Team

    Led 12-person sub-team through full design–build–test cycle.

  3. 2023
    R&D Intern
    Boston Dynamics (contract)

    Linkage prototyping and tolerance analysis for quadruped legs.

  4. 2022
    Maker / Independent
    Personal workshop

    CNC, 3D printing, welding, electronics — the foundation.

/ Toolkit

The stack behind the work.

CAD / Design
  • SolidWorks
  • Fusion 360
  • OnShape
  • KeyShot
Simulation
  • ANSYS
  • CFD (Star-CCM+)
  • FEA
  • MATLAB
Software
  • C/C++
  • Python
  • ROS2
  • TypeScript
Electronics
  • KiCad
  • Altium
  • STM32
  • CAN/SPI/I²C
Fabrication
  • CNC Mill/Lathe
  • TIG Welding
  • Carbon Layup
  • 3D Printing

/ Contact

Let's build something fast.

Open to internships, collaborations, and ambitious side-projects.

alex@example.com
© 2026 — Designed & built in the workshop