Tactile Sensing Research Engineer

Halodi Robotics; San Carlos (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading robotics company in San Carlos is seeking a Tactile Sensing Researcher / Engineer to develop and enhance tactile sensing systems for humanoid robots. The role involves pushing the boundaries of sensing technology through iterative design and rigorous testing. Candidates should possess a PhD in robotics or a closely related field, demonstrating impactful contributions to tactile sensing technologies. This position offers an opportunity to work in an innovative environment that bridges various disciplines of engineering.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated contributions to tactile sensing technologies.
• Proven ability to prototype and iterate sensing systems.
• Strong hands-on experience in testing physical systems.

Responsibilities

• Design and fabricate tactile sensing hardware.
• Develop and refine sensor structures and transduction mechanisms.
• Quantitatively evaluate performance limits.

Skills

Tactile sensing technologies

Robotics

Materials science

Bioengineering

Education

PhD in robotics or related field

Job description

Job description

1X

Since its founding in 2015, 1X has been at the forefront of developing advanced humanoid robots designed for household use. Our mission is to create an abundant supply of labor through safe, intelligent humanoids.

We strive for excellence in all we do, solving some of the hardest problems in robotics with the world’s most talented individuals. Every part of our robots is designed and produced in house, from motor coils to AI, reflecting our vertically integrated approach. At 1X, you will own real projects, be recognized for your achievements, and be rewarded based on merit.

Our mission at 1X Labs is to provide the science and technology that enables human-level, general-purpose humanoids.

We are rigorous about identifying the gap between where humanoid performance is today and what human-level capability actually demands. From there, we go deep on fundamentals, take long but efficient and often non-obvious paths, develop new technologies, and carry those advances all the way into the product. We are uniquely positioned to make research outcomes into products with our focus and tight integration in materials, component design, systems engineering and manufacturing.

A humanoid is an unusually integrated system. Meaningful progress only emerges when sensing, actuation, materials, control, and intelligence advance together—each pushed close to its real limits. 1X Labs is built around people who have gone far enough in their own field to reason confidently at those limits, and who can engage seriously with neighboring domains because they understand which constraints truly matter.

You are deeply capable in your domain—enough that your intuition is shaped by years of work on hard, concrete problems. You don’t adopt interdisciplinarity as an identity; it’s a consequence of mastery and working on systems where no single discipline is sufficient.

You're drawn to environments where technical depth is assumed, ideas are tested against reality, and research only counts if it ultimately ships.

As a Tactile Sensing Researcher / Engineer on the 1X Labs team, your role is:

Your role is to push tactile sensing toward human-level performance by developing sensing systems that capture the structure and dynamics of physical contact, not just detecting touch.

You will take a promising tactile sensing technology and drive it forward through repeated cycles of design, fabrication, and testing. This is not a sensor-integration role. You are expected to extend the underlying technology itself—by understanding its physical limits, removing bottlenecks, and systematically improving performance.

Biological touch serves as the reference system. You study it to extract concrete performance targets—spatial and temporal resolution, dynamic range, compliance coupling, robustness—and use those targets to guide engineering decisions. The goal is not biological imitation, but convergence at the level of functional performance.

You operate end-to-end: from materials and structures at the contact interface, through transduction mechanisms and electronics, to full sensor prototypes tested under realistic contact conditions. Progress is measured in what the system can now sense, resolve, and withstand compared to before.

Responsibilities

• Design, fabricate, and iterate tactile sensing hardware across multiple generations.
• Develop and refine sensor structures, materials interfaces, and transduction mechanisms.
• Build experimental setups to characterize tactile sensors under realistic loading, motion, and contact conditions.
• Quantitatively evaluate performance limits and identify dominant failure modes.
• Drive sustained performance improvements toward human-level tactile capability.
• Work closely with actuation, materials, and control teams to ensure tactile sensing meaningfully supports dexterous manipulation and interaction.

Job requirements

• PhD in robotics, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, materials science, bioengineering, or a closely related field.
• Demonstrated, high-impact contributions to tactile sensing or closely related sensing technologies.
• This may include widely cited publications, patented systems, or deployed sensing hardware.
• Proven ability to take a sensing concept from early prototype through multiple, materially improved iterations.
• Strong hands‑on experience fabricating, assembling, and testing physical sensing systems.
• Track record of identifying and overcoming fundamental performance limits rather than working around them.
• Clear evidence of work that moved the state of the art forward, not just evaluated existing approaches.
• Hands on experience with soft or compliant materials in sensing applications.
• Prior work on tactile sensing.