Adapting a Truck to Be Autonomous

Nandhini Botta, Starsky Robotics’ Electrical Engineer, on building self-driving trucks, challenges of being a woman in the tech industry, and some best practices of how to constantly grow yourself.

Nandhini, you’re an electrical engineer working on autonomous trucks. Can you share a little bit about what it is that you do? What a typical day for you is like?

At Starsky, our design process mostly involves adapting trucks to work with our self-driving system and that’s where I come in. As an electrical engineer, I work on the truck most of the day, doing design, researching, and repairing.

We want our system to be able to work on different models of trucks, which means we need to know them really well and learn what went behind the design process of all those models. Trucks are complexly engineered systems, and even two vehicles of the same vendor might be very different. So, a huge part of my job is figuring out why that engineering design process took place. Why did they do this or that?

I need to understand why it was built that exact way, learn the different features that are in the truck, and figure out how we can safely put our system on it.

The opportunity provided by Starsky to adapt the different versions and models of trucks has given me a great insight into seeing the evolution of electronics in trucks. I like to look at it as an expedited education for me to learn about the different failures or issues the truck manufacturers have seen and transformed their design for it. Not only does it help me to design better but also it helps me evaluate best practices across different approaches.

Electronics in an automobile are built to increase the reliability of the system. The complex electronic system that controls a truck can be broken into more simple redundant and reliable parts that would cause the truck to safely stop or raise a warning if any module fails. There is elegant simplicity in the systems that has been exciting to learn.

Did you always know that working in the tech space was what you wanted to do? What made you decide to pursue a career in engineering? And how did you end up with driverless trucks?

That was a very natural decision for me. I’ve always been inclined towards science, and math in particular. Actually, when I was a kid, I wanted to be a veterinarian, but I didn’t have a knack for biology. So, I decided to develop on my math skills further and study engineering. Later, I adopted a dog and joined Starsky, which is a dog-friendly workspace. This allowed me to combine my love for animals and engineering.

I had a choice between computer and electrical engineering. But I always liked building things and seeing things. So, doing electrical engineering was like a sweet spot for me because I could still code but also be able to build something tangible. That’s something I still enjoy about my job.

The reason I chose to work on driverless trucks is that it’s an innovative and challenging space. It’s a completely new field, so I can’t just go online and find all the information I need. I have to figure it out by myself and then build it from scratch. The fact that I can do something that nobody else has ever done is very exciting.

It’s no secret that many women in the tech industry feel their gender affects the way that they are perceived. Have you ever been in a situation like that? If so, how did you handle it?

True, there are still fewer women in the tech industry than men. Actually, Starsky has more female engineers than any other company I worked at before. For example, at my previous company, I was the only woman on the team, and there were just two women in a department of about 60 engineers.

Overall, I think that things are getting better in the industry. People are more careful these days. However, there are still some annoying situations happening here and there. For instance, if you got a job, there’s always this one person who will say, “Oh, she got the role only because she is a woman.” But that’s something that constantly forces you to work hard and prove that you got the job because you deserve it.

I’m also an introvert. I speak softly, and I know I can be spoken over. That’s something I stay conscious of. One of the techniques I used a lot in my previous workplace is to find people that support you. If I need to get into an argument with someone who already has an unconscious bias because I’m a woman, it’s always good to know that you have the support of others. It really helps over a period of time that people have confidence in you.

Don’t shut yourself off because one person does not agree that you should be there at the table. Just keep going and gain confidence.

At Starsky, it’s all very different. We have a very diverse team of professionals. There’s an inclusive company culture and a great collaborative environment where everyone’s opinions and ideas matter. What’s more, Starsky’s management sets this model inclusive behavior and empowers team members at every level to contribute. I think this is an amazing example of how it should be done in any company regardless of its size.

What advice would you give to those who are considering a career in the tech industry or autonomous space in particular? Maybe what you wish you had known?

I think it’s common that, as soon as people graduate and get out of college, they’re done studying. I have to admit that I had that same assumption when I started. But very soon, I realized that you have to constantly grow and always keep learning.

When you’re in college, you have pretty clear goals every year, like finishing five subjects or passing this or that exam. Graduation only means that, from now on, you need to set the same personal goals for yourself. This will help in your career a lot. Otherwise, once you join an industry and get very involved with a company, very soon you will probably realize that you’re not making progress any longer.

Simply doing your job well is not enough if you want to keep growing. Never forget about your own professional development. It will benefit not only your career, but also the company you are working at.

That’s something that I personally learned from my experience. Initially, in my career, I was too focused on the company’s projects, going far too above and beyond towards my team’s goals. But soon I realized that yes, my team is doing well, but personally, I’m getting too linked to the team and I’m cutting off the options that I have out there.

So, keep your experience diverse. Search for new learning opportunities at work, go to workshops, attend conferences, participate in meet-ups, take classes, keep reading research papers, be curious about what other people are doing. There are so many other broad spectrums out there.

Can you talk a little bit about your personal goals or projects that you’re doing?

I have my personal pro bono project where I help people with disabilities communicate. I design low-cost devices to make computers more accessible for children and adults with limited motor abilities.

I’ve been doing this for a pretty long time. My mom is the principal of a school for kids with disabilities in India; she has been working there for 20 years. So, I used to spend a lot of time there. I literally grew up at that school, and I was a teacher there for six months between high school and college. So, I know the use case very well.

Although I’m so far away now, I still serve as a consultant and help guide engineers. For example, I give them a design and get people to connect so that they can complete the project. I do this mostly on weekends.

I’m very grateful for this opportunity to use my knowledge and expertise to make a difference. I like doing these kinds of projects, it gives me happiness.

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If you want to join the Starsky team and help us get unmanned trucks on the road, please apply here.