Role: Project Lead | Team: 3 people | Context: MSTI Coursework
🌐 Project Website
Why Within.
Digital reminders are easy to swipe away. When you're juggling laundry, cooking, and a work deadline at the same time, another phone notification just adds noise. Within brings reminders into physical space — a pop you can't ignore.
How It Works.
Users write a task on a toast-shaped card and slide it into a wooden box. A timer is set through a connected web interface. When time's up, a servo motor releases a spring-loaded platform and the card pops up — just like a toaster — with LED and sound feedback.
Hardware: Laser-cut wood enclosure + spring + servo motor + ESP32
Software: ESP32 control logic + web dashboard
Demo video: youtube.com/watch?v=_zEdyTtoWFc
What I Did.
1. Redirected the project direction. The initial concept was a smart food container — too complex for the timeline. I reframed the challenge around physical interaction for multi-task management, which became Within.
2. Made key mechanism decisions. Chose the laser-cut structure + spring + servo combination. Designed the box form factor in Fusion and the internal structure for the pop-up pathway.
3. Co-developed the spring pop-up mechanism. Explored tolerances and tested the spring pop-up mechanism with a teammate. Many early attempts failed due to friction and alignment issues.
4. Managed scope and delegation. Delegated servo coding and decoration tasks based on team strengths. Drove iteration pace: tested often, adjusted quickly, and kept the team on deadline.
5. Built the project website and co-designed the poster.
What I Learned.
The hardest part wasn't the hardware — it was keeping a team aligned when ideas kept expanding beyond what we could actually build. I learned to make scope decisions fast, assign work based on what people can deliver rather than what they want to do, and protect the deadline above all. Sometimes the best thing a lead can do is say no to a good idea so the team can ship a working product.
