[Video] Inside Hack Day at Clearpath

A proud Clearpath tradition

Clearpath HQ is always ablaze with a certain level of buzz, but no day seems to have more excitement in it than Hack Day. For our most recent Hack Day, teams were given 8 hours (1 work day) of dedicated time to plan and execute their project.

Innovation and inspiring robotic solutions are core to Clearpath – so Hack Days are an integral part of our culture. Ryan Gariepy, CTO & Co-Founder says, “Everyone we have at Clearpath has a ton of good ideas and we want to make sure there’s freedom to bring those ideas forward.” Projects worked on during Hack Day can start simply as an experimental idea, but end up worked into our commercial products.

This is a time where collaboration is key. Mike Purvis, Firmware & Integration Manager says, “Hack Day is an opportunity for teams to form that pull in the different disciplines. When you take a look around at all the project teams, you’ll see Electrical Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, full-time employees, co-ops & interns come together to produce the type of “state-of-the-art” ideas and solutions we’re known for.” This gives individuals the opportunity to work with others they may not get the chance to typically work with on a day-to-day basis.

Teams organize themselves into groups of 2-3, grab some food (can’t hack without some eats!) and work through their ideas all day – from concept to execution. Teams and individuals will spend days, if not weeks, leading up to Hack Day brainstorming the types of projects they want to work on. Many of the projects this year revolved around hacking our very own hardware and software – how can we make it bigger & better? More efficient? Even cooler? Those are just some of the questions running through our team’s minds. For example, we had employees who spent their day working on creating more efficient algorithms or improving how the robots communicate with each other.

At the end of the day, the teams come together to show off their work to the entire organization. Smriti Chopra, a Controls Developer who works with OTTO Motors, a division of Clearpath, describes the day perfectly; “there’s so much creative energy all around.” When it comes to creating a self-driving revolution, crazy ideas are encouraged and Hack Day is an ideal outlet to have our employees explore those ideas to create wow!

Are you a hacker at heart? Looking to join a team that’s focused on building inspired robotic solutions for the world? See if your careers starts here! In the meantime, check out the recap of our latest Hack Day: