Introduction

Hello! My name is Palak, and I am a third-year Software Engineering student at the University of Guelph. During the summer of 2026, I completed my first work term at Lucid Corp as an Automation Technician. This opportunity provided me with many new experiences and chances to expand my technical skillset, while working with an amazing group of people. So, on this website, I will be sharing information about the projects I worked on, and the skills I gained during my first work term.

About Lucid Corp

Lucid Corp is a leading North American manufacturer of clear PET food packaging trays whose goal is to eliminate non-recyclable trays from landfills by replacing them with their 100% recyclable packaging. They are committed to building a sustainable future, through their incredible production facilities and warehouse spaces.

My Goals and Reflections

At the beginning of my summer work term, I set a few goals for myself which would help me track my progress to ensure that I am making the most of the opportunity I was given.

1. Improving my problem solving skills: I wanted to work on this area in particular because designing the software to operate the machinery in the production facility requires a lot of precision and thinking about the potential errors that could arise. So, I wanted to learn how to quickly identify such errors on a day-to-day basis. To achieve this goal, I took the time to carefully consider each aspect of the project we were working on, to ensure that all edge cases had been accounted for. I also asked my supervisor for guidance, and made sure to keep his advice in mind going forward.

2. Strengthening my written communication skills: I set this goal for myself once I realized the importance of documentation in software development, especially in an industrial environment. So, I wanted to learn how to properly document my work in a way that it can be easily understood by anyone who reads the documentation, regardless of how familiar they already are with the project. To ensure that I was making progress towards achieving this goal, I asked my supervisor to review my work and provide me with feedback. Consequently, by the end of my first work term, I felt much more confident in my written communication skills.

3. Improving my oral communication skills: I wanted to work on improving my oral communication skills since this role requires a lot of communication among the team members. So, it is essential to communicate clearly with all of my colleagues to ensure that we are all on the same page. In order to achieve this goal, I made efforts to engage in more face-to-face conversations with my supervisor and my colleagues. I also made sure to carefully listen to what they were saying, as well as the manner in which they were speaking, and used that as an example to follow.

My Role at Lucid Corp

For my role as an Automation Technician at Lucid Corp, I was responsible for working alongside my team members for the installation, programming, operation and maintenance of computer and robotic systems used in the production line. My day-to-day responsibilities involved the administration, configuration, design, and maintenance of various systems by troubleshooting any issues that might occur. By working on these projects, I gained invaluable experience and a thorough understanding of these systems.

The Pallet Dispenser:

The Pallet Dispenser is a machine that dispenses pallets onto an AMR (Autonomous Mobile Robot) when commanded to do so. It has 3 systems that work together to complete this task: the GPIO service, the Dispenser App, and the AMR Controller. The GPIO service is responsible for managing the GPIO pins to operate the physical hardware (cylinders, gripper, sensors, lights) and monitoring the machine’s state over ZMQ. The Dispenser App is the control system that handles the dispense cycle by validating the input and any incoming commands, and communicates with the frontend to display the status and any errors that may occur. The AMR Controller is the external system that handles assigning tasks to the Dispenser through MQTT.

The Stacker:

The Stacker is a machine that pallets are created on by stacking boxes onto a pallet, which is then carried off to be wrapped once the pallet is complete. It has 3 systems that work together to complete this task: the GPIO service, the Stacker App, and the AMR Controller. The GPIO service is responsible for managing the GPIO pins to operate the physical hardware (sensors, lights) and monitoring the machine’s state over ZMQ. The Stacker App is the control system that handles the machine switching between states by validating the input and any incoming commands, and communicates with the frontend to display the status and any errors that may occur. The AMR Controller is the external system that handles assigning tasks to the Stacker through MQTT.

The Palletizer Camera:

The Palletizer Camera is a machine that takes pictures of incoming boxes to find their orientation to determine how they should be placed onto the pallet. It has 4 systems that work together to complete this task: the Lidar service, the Camera service, the Palletizer Camera service, and the Palletizer App. The Lidar and Camera service are used to take pictures of the boxes that appear on the conveyor belt, and then determine their orientation using their approximate dimensions. The Palletizer Camera service is the control system that runs the label and open box detection algorithms on the images of the boxes, and displays the status and any errors that may occur on the frontend. The Palletizer App is the external system that commands the Palletizer Camera service to take a picture when a box is present.

Conclusion

Overall, my first work term was incredibly successful, as it provided me with many learning opportunities, both professionally and personally, which gave me a chance to apply what I already knew, and become familiar with newer concepts. During my first work term, I was able to learn about hardware, in addition to software, and how they work together to create a fully functioning system. This helped me gain a deeper understanding of the working environment as well as the automation industry, and helped me become a better colleague. Due to this experience, I now feel more confident in my abilities.

Acknowledgements

I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work at Lucid Corp and for all the support I received during my time here. I would like to thank my supervisors, Victor Wang, Yinan Wang and Jiapeng Shi, for their guidance, patience and expertise, which were a great help to me throughout the duration of my first work term. I would also like to express my gratitude to my team members for welcoming me into the team, and being willing to always lend me a helping hand when I needed it. Lastly, a big thank you to all of my professors who taught me all of the skills that I carried with me into this role, as well as my co-op coordinators who consistently provided me with their support both before and during my work term.