Events during my blogging hiatus: Part 1

My previous post was on August 20, 2016.

I went to a hiatus from blogging for certain reasons.

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The fall of a small robotics company

In July 2015, I joined a small robotics start-up company called Bionic Robotics GmbH in Darmstadt. The company was not really that young at that time. It started as a spin-off project from the Technical University of Darmstadt. I found the job there as a software engineer satisfying, despite the under-average salary.

At the end of August 2016, the company's financial status forced it to file for a temporary insolvency. Unfortunately in October 2016, the final negotiation with the only remaining possible new investor hit the wall. Consequently the company had to be shut down.

I could have prepared myself during the temporary insolvency to look out for a new job. But I did not, because I wanted to remain loyal and I was optimistic of the company's future. After all, we did sell most of our robots.

Reflection

I took pride in staying with the company till the very end. The experience from working there was absolutely educative.

I learned to use Linux, coded with Python, worked with the Robot Operating System (ROS) framework, improved my skills with the Qt framework, and most important of all: I did delve into robotics. My job there covered the software development, as well as the practical handling of the robotic arms. I can say that I did practice my profession as a mechatronics engineer.

As an employee of a small and understaffed company, I acknowledged that I was expected to do more than just software development. I was sent out for integration and reparation jobs at customers' sites and support the company's booth at certain industrial fairs.

My last outstation assignment was in Switzerland, where I spent one day to conduct an instruction course for our Swiss customers - in full German.

Next: Being jobless for two months in Germany.

Robotics, Coding, Linux, and Version Controlling

At this time, the author works for a small robotics company in Darmstadt, Germany. The company's product is an industrial lightweight robotic arm - aiming for collaborative robotics solutions in automotive, pharmaceutical, and every other industries.

Fig. 1: Self-built 3 DOF robot - using 3 servos, LEGO pieces, Arduino board, and ROS.

[YouTube gave a warning that the video below is unlisted - "Think twice before you share." The author has decided to go ahead as the author himself is featured in the video.]

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Coding

The author has to delve into software development with ROS (Robot Operating System): supporting the further development of the software to operate the robotic arm above. The languages C++ and Python and the Qt library play pivotal roles for ROS.

The author took a crash course for Python on Codecademy, right before taking the current job.

Linux

For ROS, the author has to opt to Ubuntu. At the office, the Unity desktop is set to default (K.I.S.S. - keep it simple, stupid). But at home, the author has also installed Ubuntu on his main and old laptops: with the desktop Gnome for the former and KDE for the latter.

Consequently the author has come to enjoy coding with Bash scripting on Linux terminal. The author has put this newly acquired skill in the maintenance of his comic book archives.

Version Controlling

Version controlling with Git is also a part of the job - thus making the author shifting slowly to Git from SVN, which the author has accustomed to since his postgraduate days at Hochschule Darmstadt.

For private / independent projects, the author uses his Dropbox for repository purposes. This is not ideal, as it doubles the storage usage for every single project on the local drive. Another option is to use the public repository provided by Github, or use its other paid options.