Stage/Internship - Development of a Communication Interface for the Phabrics SX2

John Cockerill, enablers of opportunities

Driven since 1817 by the entrepreneurial spirit and thirst for innovation of its founder, the John Cockerill Group develops large-scale technological solutions to meet the needs of its time: facilitating access to low carbon energies, enabling sustainable industrial production, preserving natural resources, contributing to greener mobility, enhancing security and installing essential infrastructures. 

Its offer to businesses, governments and communities consists of services and associated equipment for the sectors of energy, defence, industry, the environment, transports, and infrastructures. With more than 8,000 employees, John Cockerill achieved a turnover of € 1.417 billion in 2024 in 28 countries, on 5 continents. 

John Cockerill has been providing its expertise to the defense industry for 200 years. Today, John Cockerill Defense offers Cockerill® modular gun turrets from 25 to 120 mm caliber, Arquus® high-mobility vehicles, technical and tactical training on these systems, and Agueris simulators.

Your Mission:

The Phabrics SX2 is a high-precision interferometric/optical surface analyser that currently can only be operated through the manufacturer’s proprietary software. The aim of the project is to create a software driver and communication interface that allows the SX2 to be fully controlled, monitored and integrated into the existing automated test system.

During your internship, you will:

• Analyse the communication protocols offered by the instrument
• Implement a low-level driver and a high-level API that expose the essential functions – configuration, measurement start/stop, data acquisition, error handling.
• Integrate the API into the current test-bench software
• Validate the solution on calibrated samples, comparing latency, throughput and reliability with the vendor’s software.
• Document the work in a master-thesis report including design rationale, experimental results and future extensions.

Subject discussed:

• Embedded systems communication – analysis of real time constraints for high precision optical instruments.
• Low level driver development – implementation of robust USB 3.0 and Ethernet drivers with security extensions.
• Modular software architecture – creation of a reusable, extensible API that can accommodate future instruments (e.g., SX3).
• Verification methodology – definition of a comprehensive validation plan (performance, reliability, compliance). 

Your Profile:

• Student in a master's degree education level in electronic
• Minimum level B2 in French and English
• Available for at least of 2-3 months

Your Internal Support:

During this internship, you will be supported by the electronic R&D department and the electronic industrialization and prototyping department of John Cockerill Defense. The internal supervisors will be:

• Matthieu Close (R&D engineer) – project definition
• Fabrice Trotta (Test engineer) – day-to-day support – tester support
• Quentin Gaspart – FW support  

What we offer you:

• Immersion in a stimulating, technology-driven environment
• Concrete and rewarding responsibilities
• A caring and passionate team

We look forward to receiving your application and meeting you.

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