Senior Firmware Engineer – Hands

Description

The company builds AI-powered robots meant to help people across everyday life. Its flagship humanoid robot is designed to work safely alongside people, starting in manufacturing and logistics and later reaching healthcare and homes.

The company works at the frontier of applied AI across the whole robotics stack. The team is focused on taking the humanoid robot to market at scale, tackling safety, commercialization and mass production.

This role sits on the hands firmware team. You will help write and debug embedded software for the company's in-house dexterous hands, covering motor control, sensor integration and real-time communication with the rest of the robot. You will work with mechanical, electrical and systems engineers as the hand moves from prototype to production, help bring up hardware, and help build HIL and SIL tests. You will also help keep firmware reliable as deployments grow to hundreds of hands in the field. Over time you will take part in reviews and contribute to the firmware stack alongside senior engineers, with mentorship along the way.

Responsibilities

• Work with the hands firmware team to write, ship and maintain firmware for the in-house dexterous hands, covering motor control, sensor I/O and real-time communication.
• Stay in step with the mechanical engineers as the hand design changes, making sure firmware matches the mechanics and offers the interfaces needed for tuning and validation.
• Build motor control firmware for the small motors that move the hand, including current control and basic position and torque loops.
• Write firmware for distributed embedded networks linking several MCUs.
• Help define and run HIL and SIL testing to check hand performance, safety and reliability at scale.
• Improve firmware quality, reliability and field behavior for hundreds of production hands, using telemetry, diagnostics and root-cause analysis of field failures.
• Bring hand hardware up from prototype to production alongside other engineering groups.
• Join code reviews, design reviews and pair debugging sessions, learning from senior engineers and adding your own input.
• Offer ideas on tooling, processes and patterns, guided by more experienced engineers.

Requirements

• Background in humanoid robotics, prosthetics, dexterous manipulation or other compact electromechanical systems.
• Hands-on experience with EtherCAT for real-time embedded communication.
• Experience writing C and C++ for TI C2000 microcontrollers.
• Familiarity with safety-critical embedded standards such as MISRA C and ISO 26262.
• Exposure to Agile work, including sprint planning, design reviews and code reviews.
• Experience connecting tactile, force or position sensors to embedded systems.
• Familiarity with model-based design tools such as MATLAB/Simulink for control design and code generation.
• Contributions to firmware tooling, build systems or developer infrastructure.
• Understanding of real-time embedded firmware, with a willingness to build hard real-time skills.
• Familiarity with BLDC motor control ideas such as field-oriented, current and position control.
• Familiarity with distributed embedded networks where several MCUs cooperate over real-time buses.
• Exposure to shipping firmware to embedded devices through internships, projects or coursework.
• Strong hardware debugging skills with oscilloscopes and logic analyzers.
• Ability to read electrical schematics and hardware datasheets; Altium Designer experience preferred.
• Experience with embedded communication protocols such as SPI, UART, RS485 and CAN.
• Proven ability to work closely with mechanical engineers on tightly integrated electromechanical assemblies.
• Willingness to learn, accept feedback and grow technically in a collaborative team.
• Bachelor's degree in electrical, computer or mechanical engineering, or equivalent practical experience; a Master's with a focus on controls, motor drives or embedded systems is especially valued.
• 5 years of relevant embedded software experience, from internships, co-ops, research or substantial academic or personal projects; recent graduates are encouraged to apply.
• Solid working proficiency in C/C++, plus familiarity with Python, Docker and Git.
• Exposure to firmware for resource-constrained hardware with limited flash, RAM and CPU, and many peripherals across few MCUs.

Conditions

Direct hire only; agencies should not submit candidates.

Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.

Must be able to lift 15 pounds at times.

Vision to read printed materials and a computer screen.

Hearing and speech to communicate.