Robotics Controls Engineer

Skills Coalition; Doncaster; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in innovative android technology is looking for a Senior Robotics Controls Engineer. In this hands-on role, you will develop real-time software that enables advanced humanoid robots to operate efficiently. You will work closely with hardware and collaborate with various teams to create the world's safest humanoid robots. Applicants should possess a graduate degree in a relevant field and have over three years of practical experience in robotics.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience with controls and estimation software on high DoF robots.
• Proficiency in large C++ codebases in a Linux environment.
• Familiarity with optimization-based whole body control.

Responsibilities

• Develop algorithms for humanoid controls for balancing and locomotion.
• Integrate hardware and evaluate sensors.
• Create software for robot health monitoring and logging.

Skills

Robotics

Rigid body dynamics

Linear algebra

Numerical optimization

C++

Software development practices

Education

Graduate degree in Robotics, Mechanical/Electrical Engineering, or Computer Science

Job description

About The Role

Our client, a leader in developing innovative android technology, is seeking a Senior Robotics Controls Engineer. In this role, you will be responsible for developing the real-time software stack that enables their advanced hardware to manipulate and locomote through various environments efficiently and elegantly. This hands-on position involves everything from low-level motor control to whole-body dynamic control and estimation for loco-manipulation. Your goal will be to simplify the complexity of a high DoF series of sensors, actuators, transmissions, and links, allowing the humanoid robot to be controlled via high-level APIs used by teleoperation and AI engines.

Why This Job Is Exciting

• Be the first user of new hardware, playing a key role in hardware design and sensor evaluation.
• Test your controls software on over 30 humanoids operating 24/7 in-house.
• Your software will eventually run on thousands of humanoids performing tasks globally.
• Collaborate with hardware, firmware, AI, platforms, and production teams to build the world’s safest and most capable humanoid robot.
• Work with a 50+ DoF biped with hands, driven by motors designed and manufactured in-house.
• Controls Team Responsibilities:
• Develop humanoid controls algorithms for balancing, locomotion, and manipulation.
• Design efficient state estimation algorithms.
• Perform system identification and calibration of actuators, transmissions, and full-body kinematics.
• Integrate hardware and evaluate sensors.
• Develop tools for hardware bring-up and debugging.
• Create software for robot health monitoring, visualization, and logging.
• Build and maintain APIs for other parts of the software stack to command the robots.
  
  

Requirements

Must-Haves:

• Graduate degree in Robotics, Mechanical/Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
• 3+ years of practical experience deploying and debugging controls and estimation software on high DoF robots.
• Solid understanding of rigid body dynamics, linear algebra, and numerical optimization.
• Familiarity with optimization-based whole body control, EKF-based state estimators, or model predictive control for legged systems.
• Proficiency in working with large C++ codebases in a Linux development environment.
• Familiarity with modern software development practices, source control, and testing methodologies.
  
  

Qualities We're Looking For

• Excellent intuition for how controls software impacts robot behavior.
• Enjoy hands-on work with hardware as much as software R&D.
• Extreme care for how your software impacts tele-operation, production, deployment, and servicing in the field.
• Perseverance and attention to detail.
  
  

Nice-To-Haves

• Experience with Java, Unity/C#, Python, real-time Linux, ROS2, and DDS.
• Experience writing embedded C for interfacing with sensors or actuators.
• Familiarity with the Yocto OS build system.
• Passion for building and tinkering with robots in your spare time.