Hardware Podcasts

201: Accidentally Incredibly Dangerous

Embedded.fm · 24 May 2017 · 1h 20m

What this episode covers

Shaun Meehan, an avionics lead at a stealth rocket startup, discusses his hobby of acquiring and restoring industrial robots, specifically his one-ton ABB IRB-2000 named Fred. He details the engineering challenges of building a custom FPGA-based controller for the robot, explaining the differences between stepper motors and servos, and the role of inverse kinematics in robotic motion. Meehan also shares anecdotes about the robot's destructive capabilities and his experience working in small, agile teams at companies like Planet Labs and his current rocket venture.

Most relevant to

founders before launch and early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Planet Labs, OpenAI, Hackaday
Products
ABB IRB-2000, MeArm
Chips
TI Piccolo, STM32, Jetson TX 2
Tools
ROS, Arduino

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