QSET - Rover Software Arm Lead

The Queen's Space Engineering Team (QSET) is a large multi-disciplinary team consisting of students from all programs within Queen’s University. QSET designs a prototype Mars Rover for participation in the University Rover Challenge (for more information please visit urc.marssociety.org/home).

If selected as the Electrical Arm Lead, you will develop the software stack for the 6 DoF manipulator inverse kinematics, motion planning, and safety interlocks. You will work closely with the Rover CTO and the technical managers to coordinate designs for synchronized trajectories and fault tolerant operation, as well as delegate trajectories for URC task efficiency. To keep updated with the project, the Software Arm Lead must coordinate and attend weekly meetings with the larger arm system team. The rover management team will be at each of these meetings helping both in technical and managerial capacity.

The Queen’s Space Engineering Team encourages applications from women, visible minorities, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ2S+ community. If you require accommodations during the interview process, please contact qset@ engsoc.queensu.ca.

Application Due Date: July 10, 2025 at 10 PM

• Implement ROS 2 MoveIt 2 pipeline with custom or off the shelf solvers.
• Develop controllers with dynamic reconfiguration.
• Integrate torque feedback for soft limit enforcement.
• Optimize trajectories for URC task efficiency.
• With the help of the rover management team run weekly arm meetings with general members, working towards furthering the state of the arm.

• Critical thinking and decision making, with a passion for engineering and design.
• Effective communication and time management skills.
• Interest in rigid body kinematics and dynamics.
• Familiarity with MoveIt 2 or other motion planning frameworks.
• Motivation to learn real time safety and fault recovery strategies.