Senior Actuator Engineer - Hand Actuation & Precision Gears

Socket.dev; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Rhoda AI in Mountain View, CA is seeking an engineer to design actuation for the hand, delivering human-hand dexterity through compact motor-gearbox units. You will own the design from concept through production, focusing on planetary geartrains and high-density packaging.

You will size motors based on torque, speed, power, and efficiency, run bench and dyno tests, and collaborate with structures and electrical teams on integration and thermal paths.

Qualifications

• Experience shipping planetary gearboxes.
• Ability to size motors for torque, speed and efficiency.
• Experience miniaturizing geartrains for compact packaging.

Responsibilities

• Design compact motor-gearbox actuator units for the hand's fingers and wrist, from concept through production
• Architect miniaturized geartrains — especially planetary — that hit torque, backlash, and packaging targets at finger scale
• Size and select motors against torque, speed, power-draw, thermal, and efficiency requirements
• Build and run bench and dyno tests to characterize actuator performance, efficiency, and durability
• Partner with the structures engineer on packaging and thermal paths, and with the electrical engineer on drive and sensing integration

Skills

Gearbox design

Planetary gears

Motor sizing

Torque analysis

Thermal analysis

Tools

Dyno testing

Bench testing

Job description

Rhoda AI in Mountain View, CA is seeking an engineer to design actuation for the hand, delivering human-hand dexterity through compact motor-gearbox units. You will own the design from concept through production, focusing on planetary geartrains and high-density packaging.

You will size motors based on torque, speed, power, and efficiency, run bench and dyno tests, and collaborate with structures and electrical teams on integration and thermal paths.