Embedded Real-Time Controls Engineer – Robotics

Persona AI, Inc.; Houston, Northern (TX, KY); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Performance bonus

Equity

Paid time off

Winter break

Job summary

Persona AI is seeking a Low Level Controls Engineer in Houston, TX to design, implement, and tune real‑time control loops for actuators and joints. You’ll work closely with electrical and mechanical engineers to align hardware capabilities with control software, bringing up new actuator hardware on the bench and validating performance on real robots.

The role requires strong fundamentals in classical controls, hands-on embedded C/C++ experience, and collaboration across motion planning and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 5+ years designing and implementing low-level motor or actuator control systems.
• Strong fundamentals in PID, cascaded control, feedforward, and state analysis.
• Experience with time-synchronized torque control and sensor feedback.
• Hands-on embedded firmware in C/C++ with real-time constraints.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and tune low-level control loops for electromechanical actuators.
• Write and optimize embedded firmware running in real time on microcontrollers or DSPs.
• Model actuator dynamics to inform controller design and tuning.
• Apply classical control techniques and evaluate advanced methods as needed.
• Collaborate with electrical/mechanical engineers to define sensing and feedback requirements.
• Bring up new actuator hardware on the bench and characterize behavior.
• Debug performance issues using scopes and data logging across hardware/firmware.

Skills

Low-level control design

PID control

Real-time firmware

Hardware bring-up

Sensor feedback

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering

Master's or PhD preferred

Tools

C/C++

MATLAB/Simulink

Python

RTOS

CAN-FD/EtherCAT

Job description

Persona AI is seeking a Low Level Controls Engineer in Houston, TX to design, implement, and tune real‑time control loops for actuators and joints. You’ll work closely with electrical and mechanical engineers to align hardware capabilities with control software, bringing up new actuator hardware on the bench and validating performance on real robots.

The role requires strong fundamentals in classical controls, hands-on embedded C/C++ experience, and collaboration across motion planning and