Autonomous Lab Robotics Engineer

California-Institute-of-Technology; Pasadena (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 117,000; Full time

Job summary

California Institute of Technology is seeking a Robotics Engineer to develop autonomous laboratory robotics for chemical experimentation. The role spans manipulation, perception, planning, and control, integrating with instruments and sensors in a lab setting.

You will work with chemists and engineers to automate procedures, build reusable robotic capabilities, and advance experimental workflows. Strong programming and teamwork are essential.

Qualifications

• Master's degree or higher in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a closely related field.
• Strong research background in robotics, including experience with robotic manipulation, motion planning, control, perception, or related areas.
• Experience developing and testing integrated robotic hardware and software systems.
• Strong programming skills, particularly in Python and/or C++.
• Experience with common robotics software frameworks and tools.
• Ability to independently design, implement, troubleshoot, and evaluate complex robotic systems.
• Ability to work effectively on interdisciplinary problems and collaborate closely with researchers outside of robotics.
• Strong experimental and problem-solving skills, including the ability to diagnose failures in integrated hardware and software systems.
• Motivation, creativity, speed of learning, and an interest in applying robotics to scientific experimentation.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and program robotic systems for autonomous laboratory experimentation.
• Develop robotic manipulation strategies for laboratory tasks involving objects such as glassware, instruments, containers, samples, and laboratory tools.
• Develop motion-planning, task-planning, perception, control, and feedback algorithms for operation in complex laboratory environments.
• Integrate robotic manipulators with cameras, force/torque sensors, grippers, laboratory instruments, and other sensing and actuation hardware.
• Develop software infrastructure for coordinating robotic operations with automated chemical experiments and laboratory instrumentation.
• Design systems that can recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors during autonomous operation.
• Develop approaches for safe and reliable interaction between robots, laboratory equipment, chemicals, and human researchers.
• Evaluate robotic system performance through systematic experimentation and use these results to improve hardware, algorithms, and workflows.
• Work closely with researchers in chemistry and chemical engineering to identify experimental procedures suitable for robotic automation and translate those procedures into robotic workflows.
• Develop reusable robotic capabilities that can generalize across multiple laboratory tasks rather than being limited to a single experimental procedure.
• Contribute to research publications, presentations, and proposals arising from the work.
• Mentor students and researchers working on robotics and laboratory automation projects.
• Maintain and improve robotic hardware, software, and associated laboratory infrastructure.
• Meet regularly with the principal investigator and research team to define technical priorities, evaluate progress, and identify new research directions.
• Conduct research in areas of mutual interest related to robotics, autonomous experimentation, machine learning, and laboratory automation.
• Other tasks as assigned.

Skills

Robotics

Motion planning

Control systems

Perception

Python

C++

Robotic software frameworks

Independent problem-solving

Education

Master's degree or higher in Robotics/Mech Eng/EE/CS

Strong research background in robotics

Tools

Common robotics software frameworks

Laboratory automation tools

Job description

California Institute of Technology is seeking a Robotics Engineer to develop autonomous laboratory robotics for chemical experimentation. The role spans manipulation, perception, planning, and control, integrating with instruments and sensors in a lab setting.

You will work with chemists and engineers to automate procedures, build reusable robotic capabilities, and advance experimental workflows. Strong programming and teamwork are essential.