Mechatronics Engineer
Astera Institute is an active nonprofit research institute and foundation that operates in-house neuroscience-informed AI research and funds, operates, and supports open-science programs and public goods.
About Astera Institute
Astera operates three divisions: Neuro-AI, Radial life-sciences research, and its Foundation. Its AI work pursues neuroscience-informed approaches to artificial general intelligence, while its foundation and Radial activities support open scientific infrastructure, datasets, research programs, and residencies.
Skills
Candidate Availability
Required and preferred rules are kept separate and reflect the wording in the original posting.
About the Role
You will take robot hardware from concept and CAD through fabrication, board bring-up, integration, and testing. You will design mechanisms and electronics, integrate actuation and sensing, diagnose physical failures, collaborate on robot design, and maintain reproducible hardware documentation and tests.
Requirements
- Electromechanical systems design, integration, and debugging
- CAD and mechanical design
- Tolerancing, fabrication, assembly, and prototyping
- PCB schematic capture, layout, bring-up, and troubleshooting
- Motors, encoders, sensor electronics, power distribution, and embedded interfaces
- Python, C/C++, or microcontroller programming
- Hardware debugging
- Robotics hardware collaboration
Responsibilities
- Design robot mechanisms, end-effectors, interfaces, fixtures, CAD assemblies, and prototypes
- Design and bring up PCBs for sensing, embedded interfaces, and power distribution
- Integrate motors, drives, encoders, and sensors with firmware and control systems
- Characterize and troubleshoot hardware behavior
- Collaborate with learning and control researchers on robot design
- Build reproducible tests and maintain hardware design files
- Explore AI-assisted CAD scripting, firmware development, and test automation