Rover Control Systems Engineer

Venturi Astrolab, Inc.; United States; On-site; USD 140,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

401(k) plan

Flexible PTO

Parental leave

Home office reimbursement

Weekly lunch stipend

On-site social hour

Job summary

Venturi Astrolab, Inc. is seeking a Rover Control Systems Engineer to advance control systems for lunar rovers, including mobility and robotic arm control, with initial simulation and testing.

You will work with stakeholders to define requirements and help translate prototypes into flight-ready code. The role requires a STEM degree and 5+ years in robotic control, strong experience with MATLAB/Simulink, and hands-on testbeds.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in STEM field.
• 5+ years of robotic control system development.
• Experience building, testing, and validating control system simulation and analysis tools.

Responsibilities

• Define control system requirements from vehicle and subsystem performance needs.
• Design, analyze, develop, tune, verify, and validate vehicle control systems.
• Build simulations for controller design and tuning using MATLAB/Simulink and Python.
• Prototype controllers with simulations and design tools.
• Support sizing/selection of sensors, actuators, and related hardware.
• Analyze and tune controller performance, stability, and robustness.
• Develop control system documentation and collaborate with software teams to port to flight code.
• Calibrate integrated hardware/robotic control systems.

Skills

Robotic control systems

System simulation

Education

Bachelor's degree in STEM

Tools

MATLAB/Simulink

MATLAB control toolbox

Job description

Rover Control Systems Engineer

Department: Software Engineering

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Hawthorne, California

Reporting To: Denise Brown

Compensation: $140,000 - $160,000 / year

Description

Astrolab is The Lunar Operations Company. We design and build the systems and hardware the lunar economy will come to depend on — rovers, power, and data networks for sustained operations on the Moon. We are focused on the problems that must be solved before the next chapter of human exploration can scale. The Moon does not forgive untested assumptions. The people who work here know that, and they wouldn't have it any other way.

Astrolab is seeking a Rover Control Systems Engineer to support development of control systems for extra-terrestrial rovers such as vehicle mobility system control, robotic arm control, and high gain communication antenna pointing control. Control system development will include initial simulation and design of vehicle control systems, control system performance analysis, gain tuning, and supporting software and integrated hardware/software development and testing.

Note: Some travel may be required for this position

What you'll do:

• Work with stakeholders to define control system requirements from vehicle and subsystem level functional and performance requirements
• Support design, analysis, develop, tune, verification, and validation of vehicle control systems
• Build system simulations for controller design, analysis and tuning in appropriate tools (e.g. Matlab, Simulink, Python) and mature simulations as additional test data becomes available
• Design and prototype appropriate controllers that meet the defined requirements using simulations and control system design tools (e.g. Matlab control system toolbox)
• Support sizing and selection of integrated robotic control system components (sensors and actuators) such as motion sensors, cameras, motor encoders, motors, and similar
• Analyze and tune controller performance, stability, and robustness using the system simulations, testbeds, and test data
• Develop control system documentation and work with vehicle software team to convert controller prototypes into flight code, including supporting unit and integrated testing of flight implementations
• Support calibration of integrated hardware/robotic control systems (e.g. robotic arm calibration)

What you'll bring:

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) related field
• 5+ years of robotic control system development
• Experience building, testing, and validating control system simulation and analysis tools

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience analyzing and tuning performance of robotic control systems
• Experience working with testbeds for testing control systems on flight-like hardware
• Experience with Matlab/Simulink and Matlab control systems toolbox or equivalent control system design and analysis software

Benefits and Perks

• Join a team of best-in-class engineers building the foundation of planetary surface exploration
• Equity ownership in the company
• Comprehensive health benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and mental health support
• 401(k) plan with company match
• Flexible PTO and parental leave
• Home office set up reimbursement
• Weekly lunch stipend, plus complimentary snacks and beverages on-site
• Once a month social hour on-site with food and drinks