Sam Lapides Email & Phone Number

Wellesley, Ma, Us

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Us

- Base Station Validation System – Designed & built a fully automated testing station for ensuring field Power & Water Modules were performing properly before being deployed. This completely custom validation system performs 15 independent tests that simulate field environments.- Sensor payload actuation design study – Performed an in-depth design study on various forms of actuation methods that could replace the current, unreliable, payload actuation system. Developed 25 independent concepts & chose to implement a linear actuator system. Designed custom mounting hardware for the actuator to interface with the robot & also performed testing to ensure the newly selected actuator could withstand harsh field environments.- Design & fabrication of robot cable testing device for quickly finding faulty/damaged cables from field use. This device allows technicians to test robot cables during the troubleshooting and RCA process when robots are not performing as expected.- Design & fabrication of robot encoder testing station. Created a reliable & repeatable testing station for performing rigorous & controlled tests on the robot encoders. These are an essential component that make it possible to map collected data to specific asset locations. My station allowed the encoders to be tested on a variety of surface conditions that simulate real world inspection environments & allowed Gecko to gain insight into what conditions caused random vs. systematic error. My station & testing results directly contributed to localization efforts by helping to predict expected error so corrective measures could be implemented making data localization more accurate for the customer.- Field experiences with the Toka 4 & Toka 5 robot. Went on 3 industrial inspections with both of these robotic platforms to bridge the gap between operators & engineers. Observed how the operators interacted with the robots & got first hand feedback on how to improve usability, efficiency, & safety.

Pittsburgh, Us

BioRobotics Lab:One of ten masters students selected to join the prestigious BioRobotics lab at CMU. Assignments have included: - Designing an extendable wheel system, similar to a pantograph, to supply a radial force on the inside of a pipe for the purpose of vertical pipe climbing on a natural gas line inspection and repair robot.- Part design and fabrication for mechanical aspects of autonomous RC cars used for collaborative mapping in various environments.- Mechanical component design and fabrication for a multimillion-dollar electronic waste recycling robot capable of identifying various electronic components, disassembling the components, and sorting the different electronic parts. - Computer Vision System design and implementation using OpenCV to identify mobile electronic devices, create bounding boxes around them, and export images for classification purposes.- Custom computer, monitor, and camera mount design, fabrication, and installation for an industrial forklift for the purpose of material identification and tracking in a recycling facility.Moonshot Program:One of three students selected to be on the Moonyard Mission Control team for the Iris lunar rover.The Iris lunar rover, upon launch, will be the first university built rover in space, the first American mobile robot on the moon, and the first non governmental rover on any planetary body.Assignments have included: - Designing and implementing an overhead projector system to project locations of lunar features with respect to the Iris rover in a simulated moon environment (Moonyard) during the mission.- Designing and implementing a camera turntable system that will operate in the center of the Moonyard and mimic the movement of the rover cameras on earth to recreate the moon images for motion verification purposes. - Developing all Moonyard documentation for how to effectively use the Moonyard as a tool during the Iris and all future rover missions.

San Antonio, Tx, Us

One of three interns selected to join the R&D advanced algorithms section, that focuses on model based controls, under the automotive propulsion systems department within the powertrain engineering division at SwRI. Assignments included:- Designing and programing a user interface for engine controls on a classified military diesel test engine. Instrument panel gave critical engine parameters to the operator and included built in fault conditions that would automatically shut down the engine in the event of a malfunction. - Connecting and testing a custom wire harness for a medium duty commercial vehicle exhaust after-treatment system. This wire harness and associated sensors were being used to test a SwRI developed algorithm for injecting Urea into a catalyst for the purpose of reducing NOX emissions.- Fault code identification/diagnostics, component testing, vehicle wiring, and user display programming for a proof-of-concept vehicle using a SwRI developed natural gas engine in a hybrid application.- LabVIEW coding and National Instruments hardware interfacing for controls programs to evaluate coolant and battery performance when electric vehicle batteries are submersed in coolant.- Quantifying the benefits of automation technologies in virtual traffic test scenarios by exporting simulated lidar data to real world systems using CarMaker, a program by IPG Automotive.

One of ten full time engineers selected to join the new Automation and Controls Entrepreneurial Engineering Team at the Jungle Fruit headquarters. Assignments included: - Chief Engineer of the Rambutan cleaning/disinfection machine. - Senior Engineer of the Rambutan export quality processing line.- One of three engineers certified for processing plant altercations and additions at the Jungle Fruit subsidiary companies located in Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico and La Ceiba, Atlantida, Honduras- Packaging protocol revamp for improved quality control and a reduction in packaging time.- Data acquisition systems for tracking farm statistics related to fruit quality, expected output, and export readiness.- Organic chemical experimentation for additional disinfecting procedures.- Vision systems experimentation for artificially intelligent and automatic quality control.

Dearborn, Michigan, Us

One of two interns selected to join the prestigious Autonomous Vehicle Chassis Controls Steering and Lane Keeping Systems Engineering Team at Ford Motor Company World Headquarters for the summer for a paid, full-time position. Assignments included: - AVP MATLAB model and GUI updates and additions for fail functional testing and experimentation. - Fail Functional Test Panel and Control Panel indicator training.- AVP Test Case VISIO Flow Chart creation and Test Case documentation template creation. - In Car Fail Functional Testing at Ford Proving Grounds.- MATLAB Neural Network construction for Image Identification and Deep Learning.

Dearborn, Michigan, Us

One of four interns selected to join the Power Train Instillation Cooling Engineering Team at Ford Motor Company World Headquarters for the summer for a paid, full-time position. Assignments included: - Degas bottle experimentation for vapor pressure and hose compliance model correlation. - Full cooling system expansion testing for total vehicle flexible hose volume compliance curves.- Department design rules for updated and future cooling systems.

Davidson, North Carolina, Us

One of three interns selected to join the engineering team at Ingersoll Rand North American Headquarters and Corporate Center for the summer for a paid, full-time position. Assignments included: - Legacy part analysis to determine the application of existing compressor components to new and future designs.- Lab assistant to help run tests and simulations of developing systems.

Us

One of two interns selected to join the engineering team at Trane in Vidalia, GA for the summer for a paid, full-time position. Assignments included: - Analyze causes of essential machinery breakdowns during the manufacturing process and establish troubleshooting methodologies designed to reduce downtime.- Install an upgraded communication system for real time verbal dialog among the supervisory and line staff on the production floor. - Design and install a water capture and removal system for quality control and product repair to create a cleaner and safer work environment.

Berkeley, Ca, Us

Apprenticeship Research Program (SHARP)University of California, Berkeley Nanosciences and Nanoengineering InstituteAssignment: Determining Properties and Isolation of Identified Ions for Quantum Computing Investigations.

Boston, Ma, Us

Young Scholars ProgramNortheastern University, Boston, MassachusettsAssignment: Combustion Vessel Retracting System Design: Mechanical Engineering in the Laminar Flame Laboratory.

Master Of Science, Mechanical Engineering - Robotics Focus

Bachelor'S Degree, Major In Mechanical Engineering, Minor In Electrical And Computer Engineering