Files
caperren-com/src/pages/experience/spacex/avionics-test-engineering-internship.astro
Corwin Perren 076618784a
Some checks failed
Build and Test - Staging / build_and_push (pull_request) Has been cancelled
Build and Test - Staging / deploy_staging (pull_request) Has been cancelled
Build and Test - Staging / test (pull_request) Has been cancelled
Lots of media for mars rover software lead, yt video grid now working, small fixes to import orders and extra photos
2025-12-11 17:07:42 -08:00

197 lines
7.6 KiB
Plaintext

---
import H2 from "@components/H2.astro";
import H3 from "@components/H3.astro";
import InlineLink from "@components/InlineLink.astro";
import Li from "@components/Li.astro";
import Carousel from "@components/Media/CustomCarousel/CustomCarousel.astro";
import PageGroup from "@components/PageGroup.astro";
import Paragraph from "@components/Paragraph.astro";
import Paragraphs from "@components/Paragraphs.astro";
import PopoverWordDefinition from "@components/PopoverWordDefinition.astro";
import SkillMatrix from "@components/SkillMatrix/SkillMatrix.astro";
import Timeline from "@components/Timeline/Timeline.astro";
import Ul from "@components/Ul.astro";
import ExperienceLayout from "@layouts/ExperienceLayout.astro";
import spring_2019_interns from "@assets/experience/spacex/avionics-test-engineering-internship/spring-2019-interns.jpg";
import swag from "@assets/experience/spacex/avionics-test-engineering-internship/swag.jpg";
import type { carouselGroup } from "@interfaces/image-carousel.ts";
import type { categorySkills } from "@interfaces/skill-matrix.ts";
import type { timelineEntry } from "@interfaces/timeline.ts";
const headerCarouselGroup: carouselGroup = {
animation: "slide",
images: [spring_2019_interns, swag],
};
const timeline: timelineEntry[] = [
{
event: "Started",
date: "January 2019",
},
{
event: "Finished",
date: "March 2019",
},
];
const categorizedSkills: categorySkills[] = [
{
category: "Software & Environments",
skills: [
{ item: "Git" },
{
item: "Programming",
subItems: [
{ item: "Python 2/3" },
{ item: "Bash Shell Scripting" },
{ item: "Microsoft SQL" },
],
},
{
item: "Methodologies",
subItems: [{ item: "Test Driven Development" }, { item: "Agile" }],
},
{
item: "Atlassian Suite",
subItems: [
{ item: "Jira" },
{ item: "Bitbucket" },
{ item: "Confluence" },
],
},
{
item: "Automation Interfaces",
subItems: [{ item: "NI MAX/VISA" }, { item: "Jira RESTful APIs" }],
},
{
item: "Operating Systems",
subItems: [
{
item: "Linux",
subItems: [{ item: "Ubuntu" }, { item: "WSL" }],
},
{ item: "Microsoft Windows" },
],
},
],
},
{
category: "Electrical",
skills: [
{
item: "Schematic & PCB Design",
subItems: [{ item: "Altium Designer" }],
},
{
item: "Electrical Diagnostics",
subItems: [{ item: "Multimeters" }],
},
],
},
];
---
<ExperienceLayout
title="Avionics Test Engineering Internship"
subTitles={["Space Exploration Technologies Corporation"]}
>
<Carousel carouselGroup={headerCarouselGroup} />
<PageGroup>
<Fragment slot="header"><H2>Summary</H2></Fragment>
<PageGroup>
<Fragment slot="header"><H3>Timeline</H3></Fragment>
<Timeline timeline={timeline} />
</PageGroup>
<PageGroup>
<Fragment slot="header"><H3>Key Takeaways</H3></Fragment>
<Ul>
<Li
>Wrote re-usable, unit-tested, and safety-focused test software
components in Python for validating high-pressure transducers</Li
>
<Li
>Assisted in the running of qualification tests against flight
networking hardware</Li
>
<Li
>Wrote software in Python to automate work-ticket generation in Jira</Li
>
<Li
>Successfully debugged electrical faults in <PopoverWordDefinition
key="PCBs"
/> used in Avionics test systems</Li
>
<Li
>Directly interfaced with the engineering team for <PopoverWordDefinition
key="COTS"
/> test equipment, driving firmware fixes and providing beta test feedback</Li
>
</Ul>
</PageGroup>
<SkillMatrix categorizedSkills={categorizedSkills} />
</PageGroup>
<PageGroup>
<Fragment slot="header"><H2>Details</H2></Fragment>
<Paragraphs>
<Paragraph>
Working at SpaceX was a dream come true, even when it was only for a
three month internship. I've always loved space, including the
technology related to it, as I know many others also do. I grew as a
Trekkie, watching endless hours of rubbermaid tubs filled with VHS
recordings of the original series, The Next Generation, and Voyager. As
someone with a multi-disciplinary background, and with a special focus
on robotics and automation, test engineering was a very good fit!
</Paragraph>
<Paragraph>
During this internship, my primary goal was to create re-usable
components for high pressure test systems. This involved interfacing
with test rack equipment which could apply pressure to <PopoverWordDefinition
key="DUTs"
/>, and would then validate their response and performance to this
stimulus. While I'd written quite a bit of Python prior to this, the
standards for these components were (understandably!) much higher than
I'd encountered previously. This effectively meant that the internship
was a bit of a crash course in <PopoverWordDefinition key="TDD" />, as
being able to verify that the tests would apply the correct stimulus,
and in the correct way, helped reduce the chances of damaging <PopoverWordDefinition
key="DUTs"
/>, or supporting test equipment. As part of this effort, I also made
significant improvements to the driver for the piece of test equipment
which controlled how pressure was applied. While doing so, I encountered
a fair number of discrepancies in the documentation and <PopoverWordDefinition
key="VISA"
/>
commands for this device. I ended up contacting the company and was put in
contact with their engineering department, where I then drove fixes to their
firmware and documentation, ultimately resulting in a fully functional test
setup. Since I ended up <InlineLink
href="/experience/spacex/hardware-test-engineer-i-ii"
>working for the company long-term</InlineLink
>, I know that these components were used, and likely still are, for
many pressure-related validation tests at the company and worked well!
</Paragraph>
<Paragraph>
There were also a couple of side projects I worked on while here. The
first was small Python app which automated the creation of Jira work
tickets for the Lifecycle Engineering Team. Previously, a member of that
team on a rotating schedule would manually create counterpart Jira
tickets associated to a proprietary tracking system created in-house. By
manually querying the SQL database for this proprietary app, and making
it run on a schedule, tickets were made and assigned to the appropriate
teams automatically, improving the response time to these tickets, and
removing the potential for errors during the previously manual
copy/pasting efforts. In my first week, I also debugged a custom circuit
board for a motor controller test system, finding the location of a dead
short, directing a tech to repair the failure, and then verified that
the board functioned correctly afterwards. The final small project I
worked on was manually running the shock tests in the qualification
efforts for a piece of spaceflight networking gear while its owner, a
friend, could not be present.
</Paragraph>
</Paragraphs>
</PageGroup>
</ExperienceLayout>