Lead Mechatronics Engineer

Telekin; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Telekin is building a new way for people to extend their skills and presence into the physical world, starting with teleoperated humanoid avatars in agriculture. We seek engineers who will own actuation, sensing, power and embedded systems for Telekin’s humanoid avatars and help bring robust field-ready solutions to life.

You will work across electronics, electrics, embedded systems, controls and physical integration, collaborating with mechanical and software engineers to push autonomy and

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience developing robotic or electromechanical systems involving actuators, sensors and embedded control.
• Experience selecting and integrating motors, drives, controllers, encoders and power electronics.
• Ability to program embedded systems and debug hardware using standard lab instrumentation.
• Ability to reason about dynamics, failure modes, power, thermal limits and control behaviour.
• Evidence of building complete functioning systems, not only individual boards or software components.

Responsibilities

• Select and source an off-the-shelf humanoid arm for the next prototype.
• Integrate the arm with batteries, controllers, sensors and the existing teleoperation stack.
• Instrument, test and break the system to expose real-world failure modes.
• Design and build an improved robotic weeding arm from component selection through testing.
• Integrate it onto a quad bike and its successor onto a tractor.
• Build reliable electrical systems, harnesses and safety mechanisms suitable for field use.
• Compile and maintain clear technical documentation, bills of materials and test records.

Skills

Actuators

Sensors

Embedded control

Embedded programming

Diagnostics

Tools

CAN

EtherCAT

SPI

I2C

UART

ROS 2

Job description

Telekin is building a new way for people to extend their skills and presence into the physical world. Our mission is to make demanding, repetitive and hazardous work safer, more productive and less constrained by geography, starting by deploying teleoperated humanoid avatars in agriculture.

Farming is our proving ground because it is urgent, understood by our founders and underserved by technology. Our Telekins create value today, while capturing the multimodal data required to improve autonomy over time. The long term ambition is much bigger: machines that can take on physical work wherever human capability is needed most on Earth and eventually beyond it.

We are an early-stage, hands-on team who have previously built a profitable agtech business, developed safety-critical hardware and tested systems in demanding real-world environments. These first engineering hires will have unusually broad ownership over the architecture, build and field performance of the product.

Overview

Own the actuation, sensing, power and embedded systems that make Telekin’s humanoid avatars move. Your initial work will include selecting and integrating a commercial humanoid arm, connecting it to the power supply and teleoperation stack, instrumenting and testing it to failure, then designing a more robust and economical system.

You will work across electronics, electrics, embedded systems, controls and physical integration, in close partnership with the mechanical and software engineers.

Duties

• Select and source an off-the-shelf humanoid arm for the next prototype.
• Integrate the arm with batteries, controllers, sensors and the existing teleoperation stack.
• Instrument, test and break the system to expose real-world failure modes.
• Design and build an improved robotic weeding arm from component selection through testing.
• Integrate it onto a quad bike and its successor onto a tractor.
• Build reliable electrical systems, harnesses and safety mechanisms suitable for field use.
• Compile and maintain clear technical documentation, bills of materials and test records.

Requirements

• You have hands-on experience developing robotic or electromechanical systems involving actuators, sensors and embedded control.
• You have selected and integrated motors, drives, controllers, encoders and power electronics.
• You can program embedded systems and debug hardware using standard lab instrumentation.
• You can reason about dynamics, failure modes, power, thermal limits and control behaviour.
• You can show evidence of building complete functioning systems, not only individual boards or software components.

Advantages

• Experience with high voltage systems, EVs, generators, power distribution
• Experience with CAN, EtherCAT, SPI, I²C, UART, ROS 2

Preference for candidates who apply via our website: www.telekin.tech