Project Description

The project is part of an ESA activity for the screening and assessment of space radiation effects on commercial microcontrollers (MCUs) for use in small satellites. The student will help assemble a suite of custom benchmarks for assessing the performance of the selected MCUs. The assessments will be made before, during and after exposure of the samples to representative levels of ionising radiation, as found in space. The best examples will then progress to a more detailed phase of testing.

The student will help assemble a suite of custom benchmarks for assessing the performance of the selected MCUs. Some existing benchmarks will be adopted and applied in sequence to each of a number of test samples, so as to characterise their performance under a range of conditions. A stable, repeatable and consistent set-up is critical to assure a reliable intercomparison of the results.

This is a hands-on, fully in-person role, requiring good practical skills for performing the work.

The successful applicant should have the following qualities and abilities:

- interest in the use of electronics in space

- familiarity with MCUs (either taught or self-learned)

- good ability with C++ coding

- ability to work in a small team of 2 or 3 people

- reliability

A demonstrable interest in practical, hands-on use of electronics will be an advantage.

Process details:

• 8 weeks minimum fixed term contract to be agreed with successful candidate

• 5 days holiday to be taken during the placement

Working at Radtest

Radtest Ltd provides a comprehensive offering of radiation testing services and advice to customers in the space, nuclear, high-energy physics and industrial sectors. We have a focus on assessing the suitability of highly integrated devices, such as processors and FPGAs, for use in the natural space radiation environment, but also cover applications from materials used in nuclear reactors to medical scanners and qualifying wafer lots of discrete components.

Whilst primarily a service business, we also manufacture and sell Single-Event Effects (SEE) test systems that can be used to screen components prior to full heavy ion testing in a cyclotron or simply as a risk mitigation technique for low-cost missions. Under the brand SEREEL2, this is a high quality, industrially rugged design of instrument, providing the most stable and reliable laser SEE test system on the market.

Radtest Ltd is an independent SME located in the UK space hub at Harwell.