Senior Motor Control Engineer

The role

You will design, simulate, tune and validate motor control for the REVO2 family of permanent magnet synchronous motors. You will own the control implementation from model and simulation to the dynamometer and the full robot.

What you will do

• Design and tune field-oriented control with space-vector PWM and cascaded loops
• Deliver torque and impedance control modes
• Build a motor parameter identification process
• Own encoder, Hall and resolver calibration and commutation offset procedures
• Reduce torque ripple and acoustic noise
• Get the most torque and speed out of a low-voltage battery bus
• Define and validate fault detection and reactions
• Characterize control performance on dynamometers
• Build and maintain control-oriented plant models
• Work with electromagnetic design team to turn FEA results into control-oriented motor models

Required qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Controls, Mechatronics, Robotics or a related field
• 3+ years of industry experience designing and tuning motor control on real hardware
• Shipped motor control: field-oriented control with cascaded current, velocity and position loops for PMSM or BLDC motors
• Strong command of PMSM modelling in the dq frame, space-vector PWM, inverter non-idealities and voltage limits
• Hands-on motor parameter identification and position sensor calibration
• Dynamometer experience measuring torque constant, efficiency, torque ripple and loop response
• Controller modelling and simulation in MATLAB/Simulink or Python
• Ability to read embedded C/C++ well enough to trace control behavior back to the code

Nice to have

• Torque and impedance control for robotic joints, quasi-direct-drive or geared actuators, backdrivability and compliant physical interaction
• Field weakening and MTPA on low-voltage drives, and thermal modelling and derating of small motors
• Control-oriented motor modelling with FEA-derived plant models such as JMAG-RT
• Torque ripple, cogging and acoustic noise reduction in servo or robotic actuators
• Embedded firmware development in C/C++ on STM32, TI C2000 or similar
• EtherCAT or CAN FD at 1 kHz and above, and a real-time OS such as FreeRTOS or Zephyr
• Functional safety experience with IEC 61508, ISO 13849 or IEC 61800-5-2
• Familiarity with robot safety standards such as ISO 13482 and ISO 10218
• Sensorless control and observer design
• MS or PhD with research in motor drives or control

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Generous paid time off, company holidays, and parental leave
• 401(k) plan with company match (100% on the first 3% of contributions, 50% on the next 2%)
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) and Health Savings Accounts (HSA) options
• Commuter benefits (transit and parking)
• Short-term and long-term disability, and life insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for mental health, financial, and personal support
• Onsite snacks and catered lunches

About the company

1X is building humanoid robots that work in home to do chores and handle tasks. They are developing NEO, a flagship home robot designed to move, learn, and operate in the real world.