Current opportunities.
The opportunity
Join a team focused on developing advanced humanoid robots in industrial settings. This role involves designing, implementing, and validating low-level control systems and grasp behaviors for diverse end-effectors with complex actuation and transmission mechanisms. Collaborate closely with mechanical and hardware engineers to influence design decisions early in the development cycle.
What you could work on
- Develop and tune actuator- and joint-level control loops (PID, feedforward, impedance/admittance, observers) for multi-DoF end-effectors in ROS2.
- Create grasp-level behaviors including compliant closing, slip detection, and adaptive grasping for underactuated grippers.
- Implement safety and fault-handling mechanisms such as thermal protection, stall detection, and grip-loss management.
- Model and identify dynamics of transmissions including geared, cable-driven, differential, coupled, and underactuated mechanisms.
- Manage joint-to-actuator abstraction layers ensuring proper control stack state exposure.
- Collaborate in transmission design to optimize actuation routing, reduction ratios, and DoF coupling.
- Integrate and calibrate sensing systems like force/torque, tactile, encoders, and vacuum feedback in real-time.
- Perform hands-on testing, debugging, and calibration of new end-effector hardware and components.
Relevant experience
- Experience shipping real-time-safe object-oriented C++ control software for physical hardware.
- Skilled in tuning and validating control systems on physical actuators including sensor calibration.
- Proven work with mechanical transmissions featuring gearing, cables, differentials, coupled and underactuated linkages.
- Background with end-effectors or equivalent multi-DoF mechanisms involving grasp control and sensing.
- Knowledge of debugging at fieldbus and OS levels, e.g., EtherCAT or CAN on RTOS or real-time Linux.
- Strong foundation in control theory applied to multi-DoF mechanisms using Jacobians, IK/FK, and URDF/Xacro.
- Preferred experience with BLDC motor control and ROS2 control internals.
- Familiarity with tendon/cable-driven systems, tactile sensing integration, and system identification tools.
Security vetting
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Working arrangements
London, UK, On-site, Full time. Confirm employment terms and any clearance requirements with your consultant.