Firmware Engineer

Mind Robotics; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Mind Robotics in Palo Alto, California is seeking a Firmware Engineer to develop embedded software for robotic systems. The ideal candidate will work on writing production-quality firmware, configuring microcontroller peripherals, and integrating sensors into real-time pipelines.

Candidates should have a technical degree in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering and demonstrate experience in building firmware for physical systems. Expertise in C/C++, RTOS, and embedded communication protocols is essential.

Qualifications

• Experience building firmware for real physical systems such as robots or motors.
• Fluency in C/C++ and/or Rust for embedded targets.
• Hands-on experience with RTOS environments.

Responsibilities

• Write and maintain production-quality firmware in C/C++ or Rust.
• Configure microcontroller peripherals to interface with sensors and actuators.
• Triage and debug complex interactions between firmware and hardware.

Skills

Embedded software development

C/C++

Real-time Operating Systems (RTOS)

Embedded communication protocols

Hardware debugging

Education

Technical degree in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering

Job description

The Role

At Mind Robotics, we're building generalized physical AI — robotic systems capable of dexterous, adaptive, and reasoning-intensive work in real-world industrial environments. Firmware is the connective tissue between intelligence and action; the layer where commands become motion.

We're looking for a Firmware Engineer to own the embedded software that brings our robots to life — from low-level motor control and real-time scheduling to the communication buses that tie the whole system together.

Responsibilities

• Write, test, and maintain production-quality firmware in C/C++ or Rust for microcontrollers and embedded processors across the robot
• Implement and debug embedded communication protocols — CAN, EtherCAT, I2C, SPI, UART — across distributed hardware nodes
• Configure and manage microcontroller peripherals — GPIO, ADC, PWM, timers, and DMA — to interface with sensors, actuators, and power electronics
• Integrate sensors (encoders, IMUs, torque sensors, force/torque arrays) into the robot's real-time pipeline
• Work closely with electrical engineers on board bring-up, pinout definitions, and hardware-software interface design
• Develop and tune real-time control loops for motors, actuators, and other physical systems under hard timing constraints
• Build tooling to support firmware validation, regression testing, and hardware-in-the-loop systems
• Triage and debug complex interactions between firmware, hardware, and higher-level software during development and field deployment

Qualifications

• Technical degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or equivalent
• Demonstrated experience (through work, research, or projects) building firmware for real physical systems — robots, motors, power electronics, or similar
• Deep fluency in C/C++ and/or Rust for embedded targets; comfort reading datasheets and writing drivers
• Hands-on experience with RTOS environments (FreeRTOS, Zephyr, or similar) — task scheduling, priority management, and real-time guarantees
• Strong working knowledge of embedded communication protocols: CAN, EtherCAT, I2C, SPI, UART
• Direct experience configuring microcontroller peripherals (GPIO, ADC, PWM, timers, DMA) and understanding their impact on system timing and performanceExperience integrating sensors and actuators at the firmware level — not just using libraries, but understanding the hardware underneath
• Proven ability to debug across the hardware/software boundary with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and JTAG
• You are comfortable with ambiguity, move fast, and have an "engineering curiosity" that drives you to understand how the entire system works, not just your part

Nice to Have

• Experience with safety-critical or deterministic real-time systems (IEC 61508, ISO 26262, or similar)
• Familiarity with field-oriented control (FOC) or other motor control algorithms
• Experience with Linux-based embedded systems and the boundary between RTOS and application layers
• Python scripting for test automation, data logging, or hardware validation