Subsystem · ECE
Power systems & PCB
Power distribution, custom PCBs, and onboard electronics integration.
Lead filledTaking members
Everything on the rover runs on a power budget somebody has to own, and most of the electronics between the compute and the actuators will be boards this subsystem designs.
What makes it hard
Power is where the whole vehicle’s constraints collide: the arm wants current, the compute wants continuous draw, the radios want clean supply, and the pack has a fixed budget and a fixed mass. It also has to be safe — a field robot with a large battery needs a protection and e-stop story that works when someone is tired and improvising.
What you’d get out of it
Boards you designed, in a robot, doing work — plus practical experience with power that most coursework only covers in theory.
Tools
KiCad / Altium Oscilloscope, bench supply, electronic load STM32 / embedded C Soldering and rework
Member openings
Join the subsystem and own a piece of it. No lead experience needed.
Power electronics engineer
Battery, distribution, protection, and the numbers that tell everyone else what they can spend.
PCB designer
Schematic through layout through bring-up on boards that go in a real vehicle.
Embedded engineer
Firmware on the boards between the autonomy stack and the motors.