Tilak Patel

Hi, I'm Tilak.

I am a teenager who would rather take something apart than read the manual. I believe engineering is not about getting it right the first time — it is about building publicly, failing visibly, and documenting every wrong turn so the next person does not have to start from zero. This site is that documentation.

What I Am Working On

NASA Challenge

AERO-LITE

A regenerative CO₂ preprocessor for lunar habitats. I started this in mid-March 2026 after an email from the STEM Innovation Team at Space Center Houston. Three months later I had a working prototype with live sensors and a web dashboard.

Read the build log →
Embedded

ESP32 Vision Arm

AI-driven robotic arm using Seeed Studio Grove Vision AI. C++ firmware with web-based servo control. On hold while I finish AERO-LITE, but coming back this summer.

Build log coming soon

Latest from the Blog

I write about what breaks, what fixes it, and what I wish someone told me before I started.

May 2026

Submitting AERO-LITE to NASA

8 slides, and a prototype that tweets CO₂ data. What I learned about telling a technical story to judges who see 50 decks a day. Also: why you should never claim 90% efficiency if you have not measured it yet.

NASA Competition Storytelling
May 2026

Three Days in I²C Debugging Hell

The SCD41 would not show up on the scanner. I checked wiring, pull-ups, addresses, and nearly gave up. Then I realized the multiplexer channel mask was wrong. A story about patience, Serial Monitor, and why sleep matters.

ESP32 I2C Debugging
April 2026

The 99% Nitrogen Mistake

I wanted to compress cabin air directly. Then I did the math and realized 99% of that energy compresses nitrogen, not CO₂. I felt stupid. Then I redesigned everything. That is where AERO-LITE actually became AERO-LITE.

Design Math Iteration

The Road Ahead

8th Grade Built AERO-LITE Phase 1. Learned KiCad. Debugged I²C at 2 AM. Asked AI for help when I was stuck.
Summer 2026 Thermal validation for AERO-LITE. Start high school course planning. Maybe build a second robot.
9th Grade PLTW Principles of Engineering. Algebra 2 Honors. First high school robotics build. Keep documenting.
10th–12th Aerospace Engineering pathway. AP Physics C. UIUC dual-credit Calc 3. More hardware. More failures. More learning.