Abhiram at a forge in a master smith's workshop in Gifu, Japan, a fountain of orange sparks rising from the hearth beside him.

Abhiram Rachamadugu

Engineer and entrepreneur with experience in autonomy, aerospace and automotive sectors

Forge of Asano Kajiya · Gifu, Japan · 2024

I'm a mechanical engineer and a repeat founder, with work across an exceptionally wide range of fields. I'm as comfortable with the project management as with the engineering — which is usually what decides if the engineering is used. A few of the results:

Founded Taiyo Aerospace, an autonomous-aircraft startup
Co-founded Illini Autonomous Vehicles, UIUC's autonomous-drone team
Led end-to-end robot design and delivery of the Sherpa RP at Ati Motors
Spoke at World Sustainable Energy Days (WSED), Austria and Published in GRIHA's Shashwat magazine
Finalist with a voice-controlled bionic arm at the IRIS National Science Fair

The full-scale Vritra airframe under construction on a workbench in an engineering lab.

Taiyo Aerospace

in build · Jan 2025 – Present

A jet-powered autonomous aircraft for search and rescue, built in a home lab.

A twin-boom fixed-wing UAV lifting off from a paved runway, grass and trees beyond.

Illini Autonomous Vehicles

in build · Jan 2024 – Present

Co-founded UIUC's autonomous drone team; I lead its fixed-wing airframes.

A water-balance flow diagram: catchment and municipal supply feeding tanks, an STP, and treated-water reuse.

Mechanisms

ongoing · May 2026 – present

Contract work for an NGO, a consultancy and a law firm — systems built to outlast me.

An Ati autonomous mobile robot on a plant floor, a pallet stack behind it.

Ati Motors — autonomous mobile robot

in service · Sep 2024 – Apr 2025

A light-duty autonomous mobile robot, taken from ROS 2 code to field support.

Two dryers on a rural plot, each a tall brick drying chamber with an inclined glazed solar collector running down to ground level. A mason stands on top of the nearer chamber; a stack of firewood sits alongside and turkeys forage in the yard.

Solar–biomass vegetable dryer

in service · Aug 2021 – Mar 2023

A sub-$200 solar and biomass crop dryer, 30+ built with farmers in Kadapa.

The bionic hand standing on a white cloth: orange printed fingers and tendon guides above a white forearm brace, with servos, wiring and a battery connector on the outside of the brace.

Bionic arm

archived · Apr 2021 – Jan 2022

A 3D-printed bionic hand under $200, its materials chosen by breaking them.

The maths coaching launch: Abhiram at a microphone and three school staff seated beneath the Children for Children banner.

Children for Children

in service · Aug 2020 – Present

A scholarship programme I run for children orphaned by the pandemic.

A person in a white hard hat holding a teach pendant, standing beside a large orange ABB industrial robot on a factory floor with overhead cranes.

ABB at Tata Motors

worked on site · May 2024 – Jul 2024

Spot-welding robots and assembly lines on a Tata Motors plant floor.

Three handmade kitchen knives with red wooden handles, blades polished, on a dark leather seat.

Forge, tooling, and blades

ongoing · 2020 – Present

A forge dug into the ground in Kadapa, and the knives that come out of it.

Abhiram wearing the pneumatic exoskeleton on a terrace, lifting a weighted bar.

Pneumatic exoskeleton

archived · Jul 2020

A pneumatic exoskeleton of tubing and cylinders, built to lift 80 kg.

A multi-axis robot arm on a bench at the robotics shop, joints and wiring exposed.

Machani Robotics

worked on site · Jul 2022 – Aug 2022

Six weeks on a robotics shop floor — 5-axis milling and a print farm.