Mechanical Engineering · Assistive Robotics

I build assistive robotics that adapt to people — not the other way around.

Mikul Rana · Saratoga High School, Class of 2027

See the work → Résumé (PDF)
v1 → v2 → v3 · iterate until it fits
Video-loop · hero Exoskeleton closing around a glass — computer-vision grip in real time
// replace with looping demo video (muted) or a clean still
About

A builder who designs around real people.

I'm a high-school engineer focused on assistive and adaptive robotics — devices that give people back abilities their bodies have lost. My first real project was a hand exoskeleton for my grandmother, who has Parkinson's; I've since carried that work into a university research lab and a nonprofit I founded.

What ties everything together is a single idea: the machine should adapt to the person, not force the person to adapt to the machine. Whether it's a glove, a dog's wheelchair, or a research rig, I care most about the moment a real user gets a piece of their independence back.

Mechanical Engineering Assistive Robotics & Biomechatronics SFSU CARE Lab Researcher FRC Lab Manager & Safety Lead Engineering Club President · 2× TSA TEAMS Nationals Saratoga Falcon — Entertainment Editor AP Scholar with Distinction Certified SolidWorks Associate
Portrait Mikul in a workspace / lab
The arc of the work
01 · BUILD

For someone

Solo garage prototypes — a hand exoskeleton built for my grandmother, iterated through three failures.

02 · INVESTIGATE

Rigorously

Research at the SFSU CARE Lab — learning to measure, log, and prove what "works" actually means.

03 · APPLY in progress

With people

Bringing engineering to real community accessibility needs — designing with users, not just for them.

Featured Project

Computer-Vision Hand Exoskeleton

A 468 g tendon-driven wearable that restores grip for someone losing hand dexterity — with YOLO-based adaptive selection between pinch, tripod, and power grips. Engineered across three iterations, each one a response to a real failure.

The problem. My grandmother's Parkinson's made everyday tasks — lifting a spoon, holding a glass — a fight against her own tremors. Commercial hand exoskeletons ran from $800 into the thousands, and none were designed around her needs. So I built one.

Photo Everyday tasks became a daily struggle
v1EMG input

Muscle-sensor control

Fishing line routed through 3D-printed rings on a glove, pulled by servo motors driven by EMG muscle sensors.

✗ Failed — tremors made EMG signals inconsistent
Photov1 fishing-line / glove prototype
v2Voice input

Voice control

A voice-recognition module — she says "grip," the fingers close around the object. She could drink on her own again.

✗ Worked, then failed — Parkinson's took her voice
Videov2 gripping a glass on voice command
v3Computer vision

Computer-vision grip selection

An onboard camera + CV model recognizes the object and picks the grip automatically — five fingers around a glass, three to pinch a spoon.

✓ She could eat on her own — the device adapts to her
Videov3 CV selecting & executing a grip
SolidWorks / CAD Raspberry Pi 5 Teensy 4.0 Custom PCB YOLO / computer vision EMG sensing Tendon-driven actuation
92.4%
object-to-grip accuracy
96.2%
5-second grip success
0.41s
mean grip latency
// validated across 144 trials · 468 g tendon-driven wearable
PhotoCustom PCB / wiring close-up
CAD renderSolidWorks assembly of the glove

The real shift wasn't technical. Each version stopped asking my grandmother to change herself for the device, and started making the device change for her.

Research

SFSU CARE Robotics Lab — ExoGlove

A faculty-mentored continuation of my exoskeleton work — where I learned to investigate rigorously: measure, log, benchmark, and prove.

Role Summer Research Assistant
Mentor Dr. David Quintero
Timeline June–July 2026
Focus Adaptive wearable hand exoskeleton

EMG data & visualization

Python tools to log, visualize, and sync EMG muscle data with recorded video (CSV/TXT output).

Live-experimentation framework

Timestamped video, trial segmentation, metadata, and live researcher annotation for repeatable human-subject trials.

Embedded comms benchmarking

STM32 Nucleo + Analog Discovery 2; raw-binary transmission at 691200 baud → ~1.9 ms latency.

Computer-vision pipeline

CAD'd a Raspberry Pi 5 camera mount; traced a bounding-box failure to bad model weights; added a keyboard fallback.

Mechanical prototyping

CAD and resin-printed components for camera integration and the experimental platform.

Human-subject experimentation

Prepared and ran trials, operated data-collection tools, and gathered synchronized multimodal data.

Coauthor on a research paper targeted for submission to IEEE-RAS Humanoids 2026.

PhotoHuman-subject experimentation setup at the CARE Lab
PhotoRaspberry Pi 5 camera mount (CAD + assembled)
More Work

Projects & Initiatives

A corgi restored to mobility in a custom wheelchair built by Mikul 7 dogs helped

Paws on Wheels

Founder · assistive-tech nonprofit

Adjustable dog wheelchairs built from aluminum/PVC frames with custom 3D-printed joints, restoring mobility for injured and aging dogs. Started when my own dog needed one after TPLO surgery; each build is iterated with the owner and veterinary contacts.

CAD3D printingMechanical designFounder
DiagramCNN classifying spiral-drawing patterns

Parkinson's Early Detection

Machine learning · Inspirit AI

A convolutional neural network that flags early Parkinson's motor decline from hand-drawn spiral patterns — the same disease that motivated the exoskeleton, approached from the software side.

PythonCNNMedical AI
PhotoFRC competition robot

FRC Robotics

Lab Manager · Safety Lead · since 2023

Manage hardware, manufacturing, and electronics inventory and lab safety for a competitive robotics team; former hardware subsystem lead. Mentor students in CAD, machining, and assembly.

CADMachiningLab management
CAD renderPrecision aerospace parachute hardware (NDA-cleared only)

Fruity Chutes — CAD Designer

Industry · aerospace hardware

Precision CAD work on parachute components for an aerospace recovery-systems company — real manufacturing tolerances, real parts.

SolidWorksPrecision mfgAerospace
PhotoTeaching CAD & mechanics to students

CAD & Mechanics Instructor

International Robotics Academy · since 2025

Teach beginner and intermediate CAD to middle- and high-school students, and mechanics to VEX Robotics teams — turning the tools I learned building into something I can hand down.

TeachingSolidWorksVEX Robotics
PhotoBridge-prototype design · TSA TEAMS

Engineering Club — President

President · TSA TEAMS Captain

Lead bridge-prototype design and physics instruction, and captain the TSA TEAMS squad — twice qualifying for the national competition.

LeadershipStructural design2× Nationals
Skills & Tools

What I build with

Mechanical

SolidWorks / CADCSWA certifiedFilament & resin 3D printingCNC mill & latheDrill pressBandsawSoldering

Electronics / Embedded

Raspberry Pi 5STM32 NucleoTeensy 4.0ArduinoCustom PCB designEMG sensingAnalog Discovery 2

Software

PythonC / C++Computer visionObject detection (YOLO)Data acquisition & analysis
Recognition

Awards

2026
NCTE First Class Award — national writing distinction
2026
Synopsys Science Fair — Engineering, Honorable Mention
2026
AP Scholar with Distinction
2025
Certified SolidWorks Associate (CSWA)
2024–25
TSA TEAMS National Qualifier — twice
2022
AMC 8 Distinguished Honor Roll
Contact

Let's build something that helps.

Open to research collaboration, assistive-technology projects, and conversations with labs and mentors. The fastest way to reach me is email.

✉ Email me GitHub ↗ LinkedIn ↗ Résumé (PDF)