Houston-based Real-Time Robotics Controls Engineer

Persona AI, Inc.; Houston, Northern (TX, KY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive pay

Performance bonus

Medical benefits (employer covered)

Equity

Paid time off (PTO)

Winter break

Job summary

Persona AI, Inc. is seeking a Controls Systems Engineer in Houston to design, implement, and tune real-time control loops for our robotic actuators. You will collaborate with electrical and mechanical engineers to ensure precise, safe, and reliable motor control on embedded hardware.

The role requires strong fundamentals in PID, state-space analysis, and model-based design, with hands-on experience in C/C++ on microcontrollers or DSPs. Travel up to 10% for in-field bring-up and testing.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience designing and implementing low-level motor or actuator control systems (less with an advanced degree focused on controls).
• Strong fundamentals in classical controls: PID, cascaded control loops, feedforward, and frequency-domain or state-space analysis.
• Experience with time synchronized torque control of motors (BLDC/PMSM, FOC, current/torque control) or other electromechanical actuator force control.
• Experience working with encoders, strain gauges, or other analog or digital sensors.
• Hands-on embedded firmware experience in C or C++ on microcontrollers or DSPs, including real-time constraints and interrupt-driven code.
• Comfortable designing and using filters in time critical, low-latency domains.
• Comfortable modeling and analyzing dynamic systems (MATLAB/Simulink, Python, or similar) to design and validate controllers before and after hardware bring-up.
• Lab fluency: comfortable with a scope, current probes, and data logging to characterize hardware and debug control performance.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the tenacity to track down issues that span hardware, firmware, and tuning.
• A friendly, collaborative mindset, strong communication skills, and excitement to work hands-on in a dynamic, supportive team environment; design without ego.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and tune low-level control loops (current, torque, velocity, and position control) for electromechanical actuators.
• Write and optimize embedded firmware that runs these control loops in real time on microcontrollers or DSPs.
• Model actuator and drivetrain dynamics (motors, gearboxes, transmissions, sensors) to inform controller design and tuning.
• Implement and tune classical control techniques (PID, cascaded loops, feedforward, state observers) and evaluate more advanced approaches where warranted.
• Work with electrical engineers to define current sensing, gate drive, encoder/sensor feedback, and other hardware needed to close the loop well.
• Bring up new actuator hardware on the bench: instrument it, characterize its behavior, and get first control loops running.
• Debug control performance issues using scopes, logic analyzers, and data logging — distinguishing hardware, firmware, and tuning problems.
• Collaborate with motion planning, autonomy, and software teams to ensure low-level control behavior supports the robot's higher-level tasks.
• Document control architectures, tuning procedures, and known limitations so other engineers can build on your work.

Skills

Control theory

Embedded C/C++

Real-time systems

Sensor feedback

Actuator hardware bring-up

Scope data logging

Education

Bachelor's/Master's/PhD in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering

Tools

RTOS

MATLAB/Simulink

Python

CAN-FD

EtherCAT

Job description

Persona AI, Inc. is seeking a Controls Systems Engineer in Houston to design, implement, and tune real-time control loops for our robotic actuators. You will collaborate with electrical and mechanical engineers to ensure precise, safe, and reliable motor control on embedded hardware.

The role requires strong fundamentals in PID, state-space analysis, and model-based design, with hands-on experience in C/C++ on microcontrollers or DSPs. Travel up to 10% for in-field bring-up and testing.