Internship and thesis opportunities
Are you ready for your next wave?
At Psicontrol, we believe that we can help you to catch the next wave! We will assist you in terms of defining the subject of your thesis by talking about your interests and aligning them with our expertise. Hence, we will be able to offer you a project that will not only suit you, but also one that you will be passionate about.
In addition, interns or thesis students are welcomed as member of our team and are given tasks that closely relate to our ongoing projects. A personal coach will guide you along every step of the journey with a view to both realizing your goals and optimizing your experience.
Proposed subjects 2023-2024
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Vibration as predictive maintenance monitoring
Description
The use of specific sensors for lifetime and predictive maintenance monitoring is increasing in the market. An example is a vibration sensor that detects the wear of bearings, mechanical stress, etc. As Picanol’s weaving machines are inherently highly susceptible to vibrations, they represent a perfect case study for this subject.
The goal is to look for a suitable vibration sensor and let it interface with a microcontroller. The collected data can then be post-processed to determine the normal operation. An anomaly in this pattern can then be seen as a possible wear-out of one of the mechanical/moving parts.Your task
- Market study of possible vibration sensors.
- Build a test setup.
- Data analysis on measurements.
- Verify that data is trustworthy.
- Detect anomalies.
Contact
For more information, please contact Niels Deblieck:
e-mail: niels.deblieck@psicontrol.com
or T +32 57 409 647. -
Design of a four-quadrant power supply
Description
For design testing purposes, we are always looking for better supplies to simulate different situations. For this reason, we will develop a four-quadrant synchronous converter with voltage and current measurement capabilities. The task of the student consists of both researching the concept and design of the board.
Your task- Concept research of the four quadrants.
- Simulation of the design in LTspice.
- Schematic and PCB design in Altium.
- Test and debug your design in the lab.
Contact
For more information, please contact Luc Van Asch:
e-mail: luc.vanasch@psicontrol.com
or T +32 57 409 672. -
Development of a stand-alone test station
Description
During the development of our products, components have to be tested in detail. This consists of both accurately measuring the outputs and setting up duration tests.
Initially, this task will focus on the design and building of automated tools to test relays. These components are an important part of ensuring the proper functioning of electrical and electronic systems. In addition to relay testing, this tool will now have the capability to support and add other tests, such as charging and discharging supercapacitors or simulating power voltage supply dips to test how the device behaves under less-than-ideal power conditions.Your task
- Market study of different components.
- Research testing techniques.
- Schematic and PCB design for a custom-made test board.
- Use of Arduino to control the measurements.
- Visualize the captured data.
Contact
For more information, please contact Lore Descheemaeker:
e-mail: lore.descheemaeker@psicontrol.com
or T +32 57 409 627.
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Weaving machine simulator board design
Description
In order to develop the weaving machine software for Picanol, the functionality needs to be tested before the actual implementation. An existing simulator has been developed and it contains most of the hardware (electronic boards, sensors, devices, etc.) and can imitate a weaving machine without the need for mechanical movement.The goal of this project is to imitate all the sensors and combine all the features on one single board and new additions to the simulator are required.
New features to be implemented include, for example, the expansion of analog outputs, AC detections, and temperature simulation.Your task
- Investigate the current weaving machine simulator and tools.
- Create a testing board, schematic and PCB design.
- Create different kinds of simulations with Python.
Contact
For more information, please contact Hans Knockaert:
e-mail: hans.knockaert@psicontrol.com
or T +32 57 409 613. -
Hacking an embedded device
Description
What is the best way of learning about the security of embedded devices? The answer: try to hack one!Place yourself in the mind of a hacker and try to break into one of the many electronic products designed and produced at Psicontrol. After investigating the attack possibilities, you will analyze the security of an existing Psicontrol embedded controller by trying to break it. This can be done by finding threats or vulnerabilities that could break confidentiality, integrity, or the availability of the device.
Your task
- Learn about hacking methods and tools.
- Identify possible attack surfaces of the embedded device.
- Build an actual attack.
- Think about possible countermeasures that could have prevented your attack.
Contact
For more information, please contact Arne Deprez:
e-mail: arne.deprez@psicontrol.com
or T +32 475 537 458. -
What can RUST mean for MCU-based industrial applications?
Description
C has been well-known as the language of embedded software for a number of decades. Higher-level languages have emerged in the past few years, such as RUST. In this connection, what tools are needed to use RUST, how does its development flow work, and what is the effort required to have a complex application running? Alongside these questions, we want to verify the performance of the language, the impact on the processing time, and the current consumption of the embedded device.Your task
- Setup a RUST development environment for an existing board.
- Write a benchmarking application in C and in RUST.
- Capitalize on the benchmark results.
- Reach conclusions on the benefits and downsides of RUST against C.
Contact
For more information, please contact Balthazar Deliers:
e-mail: balthazar.deliers@psicontrol.com.
Propose your own topic
Is your preferred subject not listed here? Don’t worry, we can still do our very best to provide you with an internship or thesis subject that is perfect for you.
Contact us via jobs@psicontrol.com or +32 57 409 696 to set up a meeting in which you can tell us about your interests so that we can propose a suitable subject for you.
Testimonials
Julien Rouaix
Electronics and Informatics / Lille, France
My school shared information about Psicontrol and the company sparked my interest. Choosing a subject and figuring out my project went smoothly because the communication and information I received were very clear.
I joined the Psicontrol team for a period of 4 months to work on a challenging project regarding the Psicontrol display debug board. I was allowed to deliver the entire embedded software project from system drivers to application layer.
The goal of this project was to simplify the Psicontrol electromagnetic tests. The project was very rewarding for me. My skills have improved massively and I’ve gained a lot of knowledge because I had the opportunity to work with lots of different materials and technologies.
I really appreciated the warm welcome, the helpful colleagues, and the great atmosphere. My collegues even invited me to their teambuilding so I really felt part of the team. I’m thankful that I’ve gotten the chance to do my internship at Psicontrol!
Tom Lierman
Electronics-ICT / Ghent
For a period of five weeks, I joined the Psicontrol embedded software team where I played a role in a project writing a protocol analyzer tool.
Psicontrol is a very pleasant place to work. There’s a friendly atmosphere within the team and everyone is at every moment willing to help and answer any questions. The good mentoring ensured that my challenging and fun project turned out well. My internship was the ideal opportunity to get a taste of working at Psicontrol.
In the meantime, I have been part of the Psicontrol team for 4 years now as R&D Engineer. I’m part of the design team where I get the opportunity to create embedded control solutions for different applications and customers. Via coaching and on-the-job training from experienced colleagues, I could further develop myself and take the initiative. It was a pleasure to further improve my professional skills through being both coached and challenged by experienced engineers.