At United Rentals, I interned as a part of the Advanced Solutions Group (ASG). The Advanced Solutions Group (ASG) is an R&D group within United Rentals, focused towards developing innovative solutions to resource tracking problems and automation opportunities in construction industry. Some of the interesting projects of the group include the development of Autonomous / Self Driving Construction Vehicles and IoT based resource trackers.As an intern at the ASG, I worked on differentiating the performance of two industry rated GNSS receivers. The receiver with a better cost-performance ratio was to be used in a blended navigation system for an autonomous vehicle. -Designing an experiment for fair performance differentiation of the two GNSS recievers.-Iteratively adding improvements to the experiment; both in terms of the methods as well as developing and building better mechanical tools to aid the process of capturing precise measurements.-Developing a generalized algorithm and methods on Python for data cleanup and analysis.- Learnt theoretical basis and practical experience of using GPS methods eg Real Time Kinematic Positioning.-Common challenges involved in implementing a GPS solution as well as the contribution of GPS in a blended navigation system.The conclusion of the project resulted in savings of $5400 per autonomous vehicle.The second project I worked on was to develop an IoT wearable to monitor the health of Construction Workers. Workers in labor and construction type jobs, often experience dehydration and overheating. - Developed and demonstrated a sensor arrangement to measure core temperatures directly, irrespective of the thickness of skin or presence of intruding hair.- Developed correlation based digital filters to minimize sensor and ADC noise.- Designed a sensor arrangement ensuring human comfort and factoring in worker habits.This was a hands-on project and I was responsible for completing the initial prototype.

Equivalent Vibrations in Multi Degree Freedom SystemsA research effort aimed at reproducing equivalent vibrations in Multi Degree of Freedom Systems.The process of the research aims at Investigation of feasibility of Equivalent response vibrations of Multi Degree Freedom System by Varying Source Excitation: Position, Amplitude and Frequency.The problem evolved into a multi degree of freedom inverse problem where the forced vibrations of a system with excitation applied at some of the body points could be reproduced by applying a calculated vibration at the base or fixture of the vibrating body. The objective was followed by developing a generalized algorithm for achieving the same with any physical body. The application of this problem was to reproduce vibrations at sites in a body where the direct application of piezoelectric patches or other vibration sources was either not possible due to inaccessibility or sensitivity of the location.

A short internship with the Land Systems Business Unit of the Heavy Engineering Department, Larsen and Toubro.The Internship revolved around a classified project being pursued by the company and the focus was based on the concept design of a working part.Tasks Accomlished:• Conceptualized 5 designs for manually powered remote operation of machinery.• Performed initial sizing, design calculations, motion study of mechanism selected for the design; generated CAD models using Solidworks for the same; completed initial stage of product development.The internship provided experience in terms of -Getting acquainted with the design process and product life cycle in the heavy engineering industry.-Recognizing design flaws at the concept level.-Recognizing the need for ergonomics and incorporating the same into conceptual designs.-Understanding the type and level of detail that is required in conceptual designs, while passing the design to the next phase in the life cycle.The internship was a great experience in that it offered me a chance to venture outside my usual zones of comfort in design related subjects. Nevertheless I was able to generate multiple solution concepts for the problem posed, and was able to make use of design software to detail the same. The internship left me highly confident about taking on future design projects. Moreover I was offered a position as a trainee at the same organization after the internship experience.

AIRPIX, provided my first internship experience. The company provides aerial photography services for a wide variety of applications ranging from mapping selected areas of terrain to volumetric estimation of mine outputs. The company makes use of micro Unmanned Aerial Systems to provide its services. As a mechanical engineering intern, I was tasked to improving the flight endurance of the unmanned aerial systems.This specifically involved the following tasks:1. Selection of a efficient and light weight propulsion system for Fixed Wing and Rotor Craft.2. Selection of operating airspeed , to maximize the endurance.I was able to deliver solutions for both the tasks by writing short programs which helped in the selection of the propulsion system and by creating graphical data which helped in selection of airspeed for different parts of the mission. Tasks Accomplished:• Designed and fabricated parts for a 3 D printed drone using DS Solidworks. Reduced structural weight by 10%; Demonstrated use of rapid prototyping to reduce concept development time by 25 %• Developed a MATLAB code for optimizing UAV flight time, flight times were raised by 20 %. • Acquainted with the use of ArduPilot Mega and related Data Acquisition Systems for UAV Data collection.