The assembled bench and a selection of the joint actuators evaluated
Fig 1: The assembled bench and a selection of the joint actuators evaluated
A SteadyWin actuator secured in the adjustable mount and connected to the test shaft
Fig 2: A SteadyWin actuator secured in the adjustable mount and connected to the test shaft
The results browser, showing torque variation across repeated revolutions and comparisons between test runs
Fig 3: The results browser, showing torque variation across repeated revolutions and comparisons between test runs

ACTUATOR TEST BENCH

Internship Project
An automated bench for comparing 50+ robotic joint actuators.
Date 26 May 2026
Role Mechatronics Engineering Intern — Mundane Systems Inc.
Skills Mechanical design, CNC machining, Controls, CAN FD, RS-485, Test automation, Web development

I built an automated test bench at Mundane Systems to compare 50+ actuators from 12 manufacturers for our next-generation arms. Estimated hardware costs were $4,000–$5,000, versus roughly $35,000 for a commercial rig.

  • Mechanical design: created adjustable mounts and custom CNC parts to align different motors with a torque sensor and hysteresis brake.
  • Controls and testing: wrote drivers for 10 actuator models and automated 10+ tests over CAN FD and RS-485, covering torque, position accuracy, speed, and loading.
  • Brake conditioning: developed a decaying-sinusoid demagnetization routine to address residual magnetism between tests.
  • Results dashboard: built a web interface for browsing test histories and comparing actuator performance.

I owned the work from design and assembly through software and analysis. The evaluation helped the team select HighTorque actuators for the new arms.

Brady Y. Lin

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