Mechatronics Engineer

The role

A hands-on mechatronics engineer will design and build mechanisms, electronics, and sensing systems for robots. This role involves taking hardware from concept and CAD through fabrication, board bring-up, integration, and testing on physical robots.

What you will do

• Design and build robot mechanisms, end-effectors, arm–hand interfaces, and experimental fixtures.
• Create CAD assemblies, fabrication drawings, and working prototypes.
• Design and bring up PCBs for sensing, embedded interfaces, and power distribution.
• Integrate motors, drives, encoders, force/torque sensors, and tactile sensors with embedded firmware and robot control systems.
• Measure and troubleshoot backlash, compliance, friction, drift, latency, thermal behavior, and other effects.
• Collaborate with learning and control researchers to improve geometry, actuation, and sensor placement.
• Build repeatable bench and robot tests and document design decisions.
• Maintain CAD, PCB, firmware, and assembly files.
• Explore AI-assisted CAD scripting, firmware development, and test automation.

Required qualifications

• Electromechanical systems experience with substantial personal responsibility for design, integration, and debugging.
• Strong CAD and mechanical design skills, including tolerancing, fabrication, assembly, and hands-on prototyping.
• Hands-on PCB experience from schematic capture and layout through board bring-up and troubleshooting.
• Practical knowledge of motors, encoders, sensor electronics, power distribution, and embedded interfaces.
• Python, C/C++, or microcontroller programming skills for hardware integration, testing, and data collection.
• A careful, measurement-driven approach to debugging and the ability to collaborate across hardware, controls, and machine learning.

Nice to have

• Robot manipulators, dexterous hands, compliant mechanisms, or contact-rich manipulation.
• Force/torque or tactile sensing, actuator characterization, and instrumented test fixtures.
• Hardware iteration informed by control or learning experiments, and AI-assisted engineering workflows.

About the company

Astera Institute is a private foundation supporting ambitious work in science and technology through grants, investments, and in-house research. Its research programs combine the pace and autonomy of a startup with the freedom to pursue difficult scientific questions.