SAMUEL HIBBARD MECHANICAL ENGINEER
About Me
Hi,
I am a Mechanical Engineering student at Northeastern University, graduating in 2024. I have been lucky enough to have taken part in some really cool projects during my time as a student. I am passionate about solving problems, building awesome robots, and working with other talented engineers. During my three co-ops, I have been involved in mechanical design work for industrial robotics, additive manufacturing, and collaborative robotics. I am looking to join a close-knit team working on challenging design problems to solve important problems. In my free time I love to take long walks, write music and cook. Check out some of the projects I have contributed to below!
CV
Samuel Hibbard | Boston MA | hibbard.s@northeastern.edu
Education
Northeastern University | Candidate for BS in Mechanical Engineering | 2019-Present
Experience
Institute of Experiential Robotics | Undergraduate Researcher | 2021-Present
Formlabs | Mechanical Engineering R&D Co-op | 2023-2023
Alloy Enterprises | Mechanical Engineering Co-op | 2022-2022
Fulfil Solutions | Mechanical R&D Design Co-op | 2021-2021
PARIS – DoE E-Robot Challenge | Design Lead | 2021-2022
NASA’s Mars Ice Challenge | Team Lead | 2019-2022
Sunrise Labs | Engineering Intern | 2018-2019
Awards
RISE Innovation Award for Student Research | 2022
1st Place Paper at NASA Moon to Mars Ice and Prospecting Challenge | 2021
2nd Place for Water Collection at NASA Moon to Mars Ice and Prospecting Challenge | 2021
DoE E-Robot Finalist, $200,000 Prize | 2021
1st Place Student Paper at ASEE Northeast for OSCILLUS | 2020
Moon to Mars Ice and Prospecting Challenge Finalist | 2019 and 2020
Dean's Scholarship | 2019
Portfolio
PARSEC
NASA's Mars Ice Challenge | 2020-2021
Perhaps the most formative of my engineering experiences, PARSEC was a complex robotics project that I lead for two years while competing in NASA's Moon to Mars Ice and Prospecting Challenge. The challenge stipulated a robot capable of drilling into the Martian surface and extracting water from subsurface ice. The system also had to be capable of filtering the extracted water and identifying the hardness of each of the layers that it drilled through on its way to the ice.
While working on this project I simultaneously led a 20-person team of student engineers and designed some of its most critical systems. It was rewarding to be able to train young student engineers and allow everyone to contribute to such an amazing project. I spearheaded and designed the melting and extraction system, which was consisted of an articulating and rotating heating element alongside extraction and purge tubing. All of this needed to fit inside a 35mm diameter tube, while being waterproof and stable up to 200 degrees Celsius. This subsystem was a great design challenge, please check out the technical paper below for details on its design.
We were very pleased that the system performed well at competition, breaking previous records for water collection before suffering a clog late on the final day. We ended up the best technical paper award (paper attached below) as well as 2nd place for water collection after an impressive showing from another team. We were also later acknowledged by Northeastern University at the RISE student research conference, winning the prestigious Innovation award out of several hundred participants.
Technical Paper
In the Press
NASA's Competition Documentary
Our System Overview Video
AutoBrusher for Laser Slats
Alloy Enterprises | 2022
My primary project at my alloy enterprises co-op was to design and integrate a system to automatically remove dust and particulate from a laser cutter bed between each layer to ensure high cut quality and consistency. The system I designed to accomplish this consisted of a strip brush that swiped across the laser slats. The brush needed to be removed entirely from the cutting area when not in use, which necessitated a dual sided cam system to lift the brush out of the way of the laser bed walls for retraction. The AutoBrusher was pneumatically actuated using a rodless air slide and was a good exercise in proper kinematic constraint. The brusher had several axes of fine pitch adjustability built in, as well as a suspension system to mitigate forces between the brush and laser slats. I was able to design and build versions of this system for both the current foil laminate additive manufacturing system, and the next generation version of the system.
PROSPECT
RIVeR Lab | 2023-2024
PROSPECT research project with Northeastern's RIVeR Lab, where we are trying to build a system capable of creating a 3D map of the material and spectral qualities of a rock. PROPSECT is a unique research platform designed as an end-of-arm tool to assist in the spectral measurements of 3D objects. It uses a Stewart platform-based kinematics to manipulate a fiber optic cable to collect hyperspectral measurements normal to the surface of an object at a series of points. This research platform was made to enable ongoing research into hyperspectral sensing-informed robotic interactions at the RIVeR Lab. A paper discussing this platform's design and testing will be released this spring.
I was the sole mechanical designer of the system, and was responsible for the design, electrical packaging, and assembly. I also contributed to the kinematics, integration, and testing of the system.
Calibration Test Video
Paper Coming Soon!
Laser-Safe Enclosure
Alloy Enterprises | 2022
At my most recent co-op I was able to serve as the lead engineer for the enclosure for our next generation foil laminate additive manufacturing system. This leveraged the sheet metal design skills I developed at my Fulfil Solutions Co-op, but for a much more complex and intensive application. Inside the machine was a powerful laser, which necessitates a light-proof enclosure to prevent stray lasers from injuring operators. This dictated many of the fastening and construction methods and required overlapping layers at every intersection. The machine also needed several doors for maintenance, as well as a light-proof entry port for the aluminum feedstock. All of these had unique requirements which made for an intriguing and involved design process. I was able to design the enclosure, create drawings and documentation, and communicate with vendors to get the system ordered before the end of my co-op.
Bioinspired Contact-Aided Spatial Mechanisms
Northeastern RIVeR Lab | 2022
I was able to pursue this individual passion project while working as an undergraduate researcher at the Institute of Experiential Robotics under the direction of Taskin Padir. I was inspired by the contact and tension aided motions of the human wrist and ankle joints and wanted to develop a set of spatial mechanisms that utilized these same concepts to produce 3D motion without any traditional mechanical joints. The primary mechanism that I developed was the conical compliant rolling contact mechanism, which produced a motion similar to bevel gears without backlash and at a fraction of the cost. I presented my progress at the NERC 2022 in the form of a poster, attached below.
PARIS
DoE E-ROBOT Challenge | 2021-2022
PARIS was Northeastern University's entry in the Department of Energy's E-Robot challenge. PARIS was designed to make residential buildings more efficient by autonomously sealing regions with thermal leakage in the attics and crawlspaces of aging buildings. I was part of this project from its conception, where I worked with the RIVeR Lab to create a proposal for a treaded mobile robot with four flippers to navigate attic joists, and an arm with spray foam and thermal cameras to identify and seal leaks. To our surprise and satisfaction, we were announced as a winner several months later, and were given $200,000 to develop a prototype and commercialization plan.
I served as the Design Lead for this project, where I was responsible for a large portion of the mechanical design, including the robot chassis, drivetrain, and gearboxes. The design involves four sets of concentric shafts to enable the coaxial control of the flippers and drive axis. Creating a gearbox capable of driving concentric shafts was a unique design challenge that I enjoyed. I also worked on the aesthetics, branding, commercialization, and technical communication for this project. I was selected to be one of the presenters for the system to the DoE, and I narrated a demonstration of the system after communicating the business plan. During this project, I learned a ton about mechanical design, team leadership, commercialization, manufacturing and integration.
Marketing Video
PARIS: Precise Air-sealing Robot for Inaccessible Spaces
Technical Design Summary
In The Press
Tray Shuttle, Charging Station, and Mobile Robot Parts
Fulfil Solutions | 2021
I had the opportunity to work on several amazing automation projects while working as a co-op at the automated grocery startup Fulfil solutions. I led the design on the extend axis and chassis of the tray shuttle (pictured in the video below at 00:03-00:09). This was a very fun mechanical design that used many several different types of mechanical drives in unconventional ways to grab trays of product from shelves. I also designed the outer and top shields for the ShopBot (the mobile robot pictured throughout the video below). My longest running project while I was on co-op was to design the charging stations for the ShopBots, which allowed me to develop my skills in designing assemblies for contract manufacturing and assembly, and sheet metal design. In addition to my mechanical design work, I also helped document electrical harnessing and cabinet design.
PRISMM
NASA's Mars Ice Challenge | 2019-2020
PRISMM was the precursor to PARSEC, also developed for NASA's Moon to Mars Ice and Prospecting Challenge in 2019. This was my first major engineering project and sparked my passion for robotics and mechanical design. I went into the project with little previous engineering knowledge and was able to dive into the deep end of robotics design and technical writing. I rose to lead the team during the course of the project, as well as designing the melting and extraction systems, and parts of the framing and drilling systems. The competition for this year was cancelled due to COVID-19, but working to finish our final technical paper and testing of our system during such challenging times was vital to developing my leadership skills and perseverance for future projects.
Graphic Design
Various
Several of my projects have required graphic design skills to create logos, icons, templates, and other branding materials. I learned Adobe Illustrator and did independent research on graphic design to facilitate this. I was given the chance to redesign the RIVeR Lab's Logo, along with the logos for PARSEC, PRISMM, and PARIS, all shown below.
I have also developed rendering skills for several of my projects, and some examples of this are also included below.
