UWRT - Mechatronics Engineering Co-op

Owned by Yuchen Lin
Sept 04, 2024
2 min read

Job Summary

**Please note that this role is unpaid**

The University of Waterloo Robotics Team (UWRT) is an engineering student design team who’s mission is to develop a Mars rover.

UWRT is preparing to compete in the University Rover Challenge (URC), where competitors need to develop a Mars rover capable of completing a multitude of tasks. There are 4 sets of tasks that the rover needs to complete, listed as the following:
Science Mission: Retrieve soil samples, test and analyze them for signs of life.

Delivery Mission: Assist astronauts in the field by completing tasks (such as finding, picking up, and delivering objects), all while traversing terrain of increasing difficulty

Autonomy Mission: Autonomously navigate to designated GSNN coordinates

Equipment Servicing: Perform dexterous tasks on a mock-up equipment station using a robotic arm.

Further detail can be found in the URC Requirements & Guidelines

On the team, we hope to teach you about the mechanical and electrical design of our subsystems, including the rocker-bogie drive train and our 6 DOF robotic arm. If you’re interested in robotics and want to learn more about these challenges we need to tackle, feel free to apply! At UWRT, we will give you meaningful projects that will go on our rover, which will develop useful skills and knowledge to bring into your careers.

 

Due to the nature of the rover system and the mechanical position, it is required that the co-op is onsite in person in Waterloo. You will have flexible hours as you desire and are free to set your schedule, but we expect you to be available throughout the day and for team meetings that take place in the evenings.

 

Job Responsibilities

Your role as the Mechatronics Engineering co-op will involve working with cross-functional sub-teams that include mechanical, electrical, firmware, and software. You will be performing the research and development of rover parts and subsystems, validating designs using simulation software, manufacturing components, testing, and doing system-level integration to implement your work with the overall architecture. You will get to envision and create multiple different aspects of the competition rover.

Specific tasks you will take on include:

  • Selection of electromechanical components

  • Mechanical design using Solidworks

  • System integration

  • Firmware development working with ODrive motor controllers and custom PCBs

  • Programming and design of a static team website

Skills

Required Skills

  • Strong communication skills; capable of staying in contact with various stakeholders, contributing to technical discussions and asking thoughtful questions.

  • A drive to learn and contribute; design teams are all about growth and passion, and we want someone serious about achieving something they can be proud of, at UWRT.

  • Completed the Engineering Student Machine Shop (ESMS) training.

Preferred Skills

  • Some familiarity with 3D CAD, especially in Solidworks

  • Experience with manufacturing and fabrication in a machine shop

  • Experience with electrical systems and custom off-the-shelf product debugging

What you will learn:

  • Mechanical design

  • Simulation and Testing

  • Mechanical manufacturing process

  • Robot building practices

  • Electrical PCB debugging

  • Sub-system architecture design for Robotics

  • Cross-subteam system integration