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Staff Mechanical Engineer: Front End Innovation (Advanced Development) and New Product Integration
June 2022 - Present
Staff Mechanical Engineer: Front End Innovation (Advanced Development) and New Product Integration
June 2022 - Present
iRobot Terra Robotic Lawnmower -- Stopped in 2020
Much of my work upon returning to iRobot full-time has focused on developing their robotic lawn mower platform. This was iRobot's second foray into the robotic lawn care space since the Terra robot was halted in 2020. This project has also been halted and remains unreleased. As such, the finer details of my work are confidential. That said, some of my tasks at a top level include:
Plastic Part Design: Robot Bumper and Chassis Sections, UI Buttons, PCBA Brackets, Safety Features, Snap Fits, all utilizing top-down design in CREO
Rubber Part Designs: Seals/Plugs, PCBA Overmolds
Fabrication/Machining: 3D Printing, Compression Molding, Laser Cutter, Band Saw, End Mill, Drill Press
Simulation: FEA for Snap Engagement behavior and Magnetic Simulation to verify magnet/hall effect sensor spacing
Production Part Design with considerations for DFM/DFA and completing production drawings
Lead internal prototype builds, collaborating across engineering disciplines (EE, SW, System Test) as well as with overseas manufacturers, heavily leveraging Project Management skills
Designing Experiments to validate new technologies, including
Thermal mitigation for a high heat generating board element
Future potential robot accessories
Changing mechanical design to reduce noise seen by sensors within robot
Proper function of subassemblies and components within prototypes of future products
Certified Trainings in both Top-Down Design with CREO and Plastic Part Design for Injection Molding
Review Feedback:
"Alex has proven his value as a creative and enthusiastic engineer, excited about learning and helping the teams he supports"
"Alex proactively sought out ways to be an effective contributor."
"Alex has developed a reputation as a thoughtful and considerate engineer, a hard worker, and a great person to have on the team... He is always upbeat, and brings positive energy and curiosity to the conversation."
"Alex capitalizes on opportunities to learn iRobot’s design tools and methodologies, takes advantage of expert advice, and consistently demonstrates that he can take a complex task and complete it with minimal supervision."
Mechanical Engineering Intern: Sensing and Docking Team
August 2019 - May 2020
Mechanical Engineering Intern: Sensing and Docking Team
August 2019 - May 2020
Roomba approaching Standard Charging Dock
Roomba s9 on Clean Base® Automatic Dirt Disposal Dock
As a member of the Sensing and Docking team, my work focused on the sensors used on iRobot's robotic vacuum cleaners and on the mechanical design of the charging and evacuation docks (pictured above). Much of my work can be traced to direct impact in iRobot's current product line of "j" series robots and Clean Base Docks.
My work included:
Evaluating improvements into the friction pads at the bottom of the docks to prevent movement, with my findings contributing to a major shift in project direction
Designing and fabricating prototypes for Dirt Disposal Docks that were compatible with potential changes to Roomba architecture at the time
Running experiments using internal control software to evaluate how well the Roomba can evacuate debris into the Dirt Disposal Dock and validate/negate proposed design changes. Many of the experiments and tests I developed as an intern became a standard for the Docks team.
Coordinated with Electrical and Systems Test teams to create the first ever mock-up for a "Visual Docking" Charging Dock with a QR Code for the robot to recognize. This "visual docking" technology is used in all current iRobot products.
Selected for high-visibility engineering team charged with resolving an issue with an in-market product, conducting aggressive testing with a wide array of potential solutions in an accelerated timeframe. The "in-work" solution and "future" solution we converged at were both used by iRobot to fix the issue.
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