Designing around limits
For Maisha and Vashi, everything started with constraints.
The chassis team had to fit motors, wheels, and a battery into a fixed space, and it didn't take long to realize their original design wouldn't work. They had planned for four motors, but the robot was too narrow, and the layout would have caused overlap. So they had to rethink it, moving a motor to the center and switching to a belt-driven system instead.
Even after adjusting the design, things didn't go exactly as planned. They originally chose aluminum 6061, but when it came time to manufacture, it didn't bend the way they needed. So they switched to aluminum 5052. It wasn't a huge difference for their scale, but it showed how quickly plans can change once you move from design to production.
Starting from scratch
The claw made things more complicated.
Since it sits on top of the robot, weight becomes a major factor. The motors needed to be strong enough to work, but light enough not to throw everything off. At one point, they had to replace a motor entirely because it was too heavy, switching to two smaller ones instead. Even that change affected other parts of the system.
They did find some reference designs online, but they couldn't rely on them fully. As they explained, we used a few parts from that, but a lot we had to custom make.
Most of the design had to be built specifically for their robot, which meant constantly adjusting dimensions and reworking parts.
What pressure?
The way they worked depended on the team.
For the claw, it was just two people, so everything was collaborative. They didn't really divide tasks, they just worked through everything together. For the chassis, work was more split up, with each person focusing on specific parts before bringing everything together. Even then, it stayed flexible. As Vashi described it, it often came down to whoever was there
making updates when quick changes were needed.
Time was one of the biggest challenges. With a small team and a heavy workload, things got intense, especially during winter. Maisha mentioned pulling all-nighters because it felt like too much work for too few people.
Balancing that with classes made it even harder.
But more than anything, the project came down to persistence. Things didn't always work, and designs didn't always go as planned. It was easy to feel stuck, but as they put it, you just had to work your way around it… figure it out.
Right now, most of their work is still behind the scenes. Designs, parts, and adjustments are coming together, but they haven't had that moment yet where everything feels complete.
When I asked about it, they were honest. Not yet.
But they know exactly what they're waiting for. As Maisha said, it'll be when everything is assembled and we actually see it move.
That's the moment they're working toward.