Hi, my name's Emma. I like robots, and I like puzzles, and I really like solving the puzzle of "why isn't this robot working as expected, and how can we fix it?"

A little bit about my experience:

I've spent the past year at RISE Robotics driving reliability and validation testing for the RISE Cylinder, a 4000lb working load belt-driven linear actuator designed to replace low-efficiency hydraulics in the liftgate market. My testing has revealed important information about the chemistry and friction properties of flat belting, and driven numerous design changes vital to the reliability and performance of the product. In addition to the root case analysis, test fixture design, and validation testing for the RISE Cylinder, I also independently implemented the control and sensing hardware necessary to safely automate the ReGen RailTrac Liftgate. I also developed a Python-based test sequencing interface allowing the team to easily configure tests via JSON configuration files, and initiate tests and data collection/ through a command line interface. This has empowered the team to perform overnight software validation testing for the first time, and has quickly become an integral tool for quickly solving burning problems (they seem to be a constant in the world of new product introduction), in addition to opening the door for full-system reliability testing.

I spent Summer/Fall 2021 at Verve Motion supporting and developing wearable soft robotic exosuits. My work included kicking off accelerated life testing for the system and combining the results of that testing with mechanical knowledge to develop design improvements which I then verified on the test stand before implementing into production units. 

In Fall 2020 I worked at Notch, where I was hired as a mechanical engineer but found opportunities to fit in a range of skills in addition to the mechanical design, manufacturing, and assembly.  I worked on electronic prototyping and assembly, wrote a bunch of Python to control several Raspberry Pi based systems, endlessly debugged software/hardware systems, and taught myself enough quasioptical theory to then design and 3D print an RF lens.