As an intern at ShopBot Tools, a maker of low-cost manufacturing robots, I designed and built the first functional prototype of a portable CNC router, later branded the Handibot™.

ShopBot's CEO, Ted Hall, had approached me with an idea he had been developing: a small, portable robotic milling tool that would could be brought to materials to cut them, rather than the other way around - as is the case with traditional robotic mills. I developed the prototype design in CAD, working to fit the necessary motors, rails, and cutting head into an eighteen inch footprint. I fabricated the design using larger larger robotic mills to cut HDPE & aluminum components, iterating on the assembly until I had a functional prototype capable of cutting the very components from which it was made.

Shopbot later launched the tool through a Kickstarter Campaign, netting $350,000 in pre-orders. The tool went into production, and while its design continues to evolve you can still see its resemblance to my initial prototype.