Team project, Forge Hardware Product Lab, Jan to Jun 2026
Role
I owned the electromagnetic lock subsystem: relay driver design in KiCad, Arduino control firmware, and the battery pack and power budget measurements.
Tools
KiCad, Arduino, Multimeter
Status
Completed.
The finished assistive communication caddyKiCad schematic for the electromagnetic lock relay driverThe electromagnetic lock driver circuitThe 2x2 AA battery pack, about 6.67V
Boxy is an Assistive Communication Caddy, a classroom device for nonverbal students that my team built from the ground up in Northeastern's Forge Hardware Product Lab.
I was responsible for the electromagnetic lock subsystem. I designed a 5V relay driver in KiCad and wrote non-blocking Arduino control firmware, allowing the lock to work without interrupting the rest of the system.
I also built and tested the project's 2x2 AA battery pack, which provides about 6.67V. I measured the current draw of each component with a multimeter to help determine the team's overall power budget.
