ABOUT THE DIN

Flexible-PCB Conformal sEMG Wristband for the Tactical Neural Interface

ØVRD Pty Ltd

About the Company

ØVRD is an Australian-founded sovereign defence company building the Tactical Neural Interface — a wrist-worn surface-electromyography (sEMG) device that decodes an operator’s motor command for silent control of autonomous systems (UAS, UGV, USV). Its core IP, the patent-pending Motor Unit Foundation Model, runs entirely on-device with no neural data egress. ØVRD holds an Australian provisional patent, was selected for the 2026 Defence Trailblazer Commercialisation Bootcamp, and partners with UNSW DTB and Macquarie University autonomy researchers.

Project Objective

ØVRD’s Motor Unit Foundation Model is currently validated on a third-party two-channel sEMG sensor. This project designs and builds ØVRD’s first owned sensing hardware — a flexible-PCB (fPCB) wristband that instantiates that pipeline. The intern will deliver a first-generation wearable hardware prototype that validates manufacturability and signal fidelity ahead of ruggedised, trial-ready iterations — a direct uplift in technology readiness toward sovereign-manufactured, DISP-compliant hardware.

Project Tasks

• Characterise the reference signal chain and freeze the electrode-montage specification.
• Design the sEMG front-end (analog conditioning, edge-compute MCU, power and BLE) on a flexible-PCB substrate.
• Fabricate and bring up a works-like prototype with a working BLE data stream from the owned hardware.
• Bench-validate signal fidelity, latency and classification-accuracy parity against the reference pipeline.
• Stretch goal: integrate into a fully conformal, wearable-form band.

Intern Skills

• Essential: PCB schematic capture and layout (KiCad or Altium); analog front-end / signal-conditioning design for biopotentials; embedded systems (microcontroller firmware, BLE, sensor interfacing); Python for signal validation; Git.
• Desirable: flexible-PCB or rigid-flex experience; sEMG / biosignal acquisition; bench skills (fine-pitch / SMD soldering, oscilloscope and logic-analyser use, methodical debugging).
• Disciplines: electrical, electronic, mechatronic or biomedical engineering; postgraduate at a DIN partner university.

How to apply

Eligible students (Australian citizens) apply via the online application form and submit a CV and motivation letter by 6 September 2026.