Engineering student · University of Auckland
Albert Zhou
Mechatronics engineering student interested in the practical overlap of mechanics, electronics, and software — and in building the machines that sit where those three meet.
Workbench · assembly and rework
About
A portfolio built around how things work.
Most of what I make ends up as a physical thing: a six-axis arm driven by steppers and an STM32, an autonomous robot that finds its way along a wall, a Raspberry Pi in an enclosure I designed around it. I like the part of engineering where a drawing stops being a drawing and has to hold together, draw current, and behave.
This portfolio is organised the way I work on projects — mechanical design, electronics, then the control software that ties them together. Every model here is the real CAD, and every photo is the real build.
01
Mechanical systems
Mechanisms, CAD, and prototyping — the design decisions that make a physical system stiff, serviceable, and repeatable.
02
Embedded electronics
Sensors, actuators, power, and microcontrollers brought together as a complete system rather than a bench full of parts.
03
Control & software
Firmware and control approaches that turn an intended motion into a predictable one, and interfaces that make a machine usable.
Explore
Where to go next
Four routes through the same body of work — the projects themselves, the arm in detail, the background behind them, and what happens outside the lab.
Selected work
Projects
Four builds — a robotic arm, an autonomous competition robot, a Raspberry Pi device, and a CAD study.
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Detailed case study
Z1 robotic arm
The six-axis arm, taken apart into mechanical design, electronics, and control software.
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Background
Education & experience
University study, areas of coursework, technical skills, and the jobs I have worked.
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Outside the lab
Hobbies
Game development, volunteering at a university makerspace, and woodworking.
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End of page
Albert Zhou
Mechatronics engineering student. Open to talking about robotics, embedded systems, and anything that has to move accurately.
© 2026 Albert Zhou · Mechatronics engineering portfolio