The Who's Who of BRASS
The BRASS team is composed of four members of the Mechatronics class of 2012. The members are James Servos, Craig MacKenzie, Peter Mullen, and Kyle Litchfield. Each members has different responsiblilities in the projects which are broken down into Software, Electrical, Travesal Design, and Manipulator Design. Members of the team share responsibility for project managment tasks and general administrative work.
James Servos
James is responsible for the software implementation and development for the project. James has a vast amount of expereience developing for robotics platforms from his extensive experience with the University of Waterloo Robotics team. James has developed code for such projects as the Intelegent Ground Vehicle Competition, ION Autonomous Lawnmower Competition, and the International Robot Racing competition. He has worked in
embedded software development for most of his co-op work terms at such companies as Research In Motion and Sandvine Inc.
Craig MacKenzie
Craig is responsible for designing the project’s electrical system as well as developing the system firmware including low level communications and motor control. Craig has a strong background in embedded system design having spent almost a year and a half working in the semiconductor industry in addition to being an acting team leader and former electrical lead of the University of Waterloo Robotics Team. Most recently Craig spent three works terms in ON Semiconductor’s medical division, where he developed production hardware, firmware and drivers for a next generation debugging platform supporting ON’s low power DSP ASIC line.
Peter Mullen
Peter is responsible for the mechanical design, construction, and assembly of the robotic manipulator for the project. Peter has a significant amount of mechanical design experience through his previous co-op terms where he designed and built multiple robots. He developed his machining expertise during his previous work placements as well as through various school projects. Peter spent his first two work terms developing robotic manipulators at CrossWing Inc.
Kyle Litchfield
Kyle is responsible for the mechanical design, construction, and assembly of the traversal system for the project. Kyle has gained a good deal of machine design experience through his previous co-op terms as well as through a number of mechanical design courses taken at the University of Waterloo. He has machining experience gained through a brief stint on the University of Waterloo Robotics Team, previous school projects, and through working with professional machinists in industry. Kyle has recently spent two work terms as a mechanical engineering co-op student at Kimberly-Clark Inc.