MIT Motorsports: Driverless Mechanisms

September 2025 - Ongoing

MIT FSAE

Summary: Led the design of the autonomous steering actuation system as Responsible Engineer for MIT Motorsports’ first driverless Formula SAE racecar. Defined quantitative system requirements (torque, speed, mass, cost, packaging) and evaluated multiple architectures through a formal design review process, designing a column-mounted motor and pulley system packaged within 2 inches and weighing 0.56 kg. Iterated the system through a full design cycle into fabrication, including custom welding jig design and machining.

Skills

• Design/CAD: Siemens NX
• PLM: Siemens Teamcenter
• Machining and fabrication: manual mill, CNC mill (CAM, conversational programming), lathe, waterjet, 3d printing

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This year is the first year in the history of MIT Motorsports, MIT’s competitive Formula SAE (FSAE) team, where the racecar we design and build from scratch will also be able to drive fully autonomously! As responsible engineer for Driverless Mechanisms, I researched, designed, and am now fabricating our driverless power steering system.

Through this project I learned the rigor of engineering and the importance of research, justification, and communication within engineering, particularly in a team setting. In MIT Motorsports, we follow the full design process with design review and feedback, from setting design requirements to fabrication and testing. It’s through these rigorous design reviews that we receive feedback, communicate and collaborate with other subsystems, and improve on our designs.