Internship R&D open-source CNC machine
REFAQT'S MISSION Refaqt wants to make mechanical equipment repairable forever by making sure spare parts and entire products can be produced on demand and designs and manufacturing recipes are freely available. To achieve this, we develop affordable machines and software tools to locally produce mechanical parts on demand. We currently focus on building an open-source CNC milling machine for metal.
ASSIGNMENT We are looking for interns who either want to support us in our ongoing R&D activities or would like to work on a specific project. Our R&D activities and projects involve:
- Enhancement of the stiffness of the structure of our CNC machine.
- Integration of an automatic tool changer on our CNC machine.
- Integration of a workpiece measurement probe on our CNC machine
- Semi-automated generation of tool paths in Fusion 360 using Python
- Development of a spindle vibration measurement system
- Development of a real-time vibration compensation system
- Development of linear and rotary motion systems for constructing a modular multi-axis CNC
- Making open-source scientific hardware projects production-ready for our product library
COMPANY Refaqt is a startup founded in 2023, based in Leuven. We combine our experience in mechatronic design with our passion to create a more sustainable way of manufacturing. Our current value chain leads to over-production, ecological destruction, and global inequality. We believe the answer is an open, accessible, distributed manufacturing system producing open-source hardware.
Type
Internship
Master
Computer Science Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Sector
Metal
Location
Flemish Brabant
City
Leuven
Benefits
- Learn how to develop while taking into account all other aspects of a hardware startup business: customer feedback, manufacturing, logistics and distribution, marketing, and financial budgets.
- Learn how to work laser-focused and end-goal-driven when doing R&D for a bootstrapped startup
- Gain experience in the development of mechatronic systems.
Wanted Profile
We are looking for a Master's student or graduated engineer with one or more of the following skills:
- Mechanical design (CAD, FEM)
- Mechatronic design (sensors, actuators, controllers)
- Control design (PID control, or maybe even fancier...)
- Programming in Python, Matlab, or Octave.
If you are a Bachelor's student, but you have the feeling you have the skills to work with us: impress us with a description of your past mechatronic projects!