Skip
Mechatronics / Power Train Lead
San Francisco · Full-time
Sponsorship not specifiedDetected 5 days ago
PythonC++LinuxRoboticsLeadershipAdaptabilityActuators
About the role
- Yet it is elusive for 2 billion people due to age, injury, or disability.
- Skip is a 25-person early-stage start-up that spun out of Google X in 2023.
- As such this will start as an individual contributor role, with leadership for critical systems, and directing work for people contributing to the system (e.g. working closely with our test engineer and gearbox designer).
Responsibilities
- Own the testing protocol to validate performance of the mechatronics at volumes and standards relevant to consumer products (and work with our Test Engineer to execute)
- Characterize and model our actuators for open-loop and closed-loop torque control. Create thermal models and evaluate the thermal limits of the actuator.
- Own the process of productising our novel actuation systems as standalone products and components of a broader platform
- Guide design and development decisions for future iterations of the product, and future systems; including battery and motor specifications, motor control chip selection and firmware requirements
Requirements
- 5+ years' experience working in robotics or mechatronics
- Experience with design for systems at scale, with a focus on testing and validation
- Demonstrable expertise in C/C++ for high performance applications
- Expertise with Linux, command-line tools, Python scripting
- Knowledge of low level hardware and OS internals at a kernel level
- Experience with troubleshooting tools (JTAG, SWD, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers)
- Ability to work at the Skip Bay Area office >3 days/week
- Experience with powered consumer electronics (e.g. drones, robot vacuums)
- Experience in start-up environments and using AI coding tools to leverage your skills for broader impact
Company info
- Skip is on a mission to make life joyful through powered movement.
- Movement is a powerful way to build physical, mental and social health. Yet it is elusive for 2 billion people due to age, injury, or disability. We are building products that will restore mobility for millions and enable a new frontier of joyful movement experiences. We want to build a future where a grandparent can easily outrun their grandkids and no one is left behind at the trailhead.
- Skip is a 25-person early-stage start-up that spun out of Google X in 2023. With deep cross-disciplinary expertise and key partnerships (e.g. with Arc'teryx) we are uniquely positioned to launch the first commercially successful wearable robotic device, the MO/GO, develop a platform to launch future Movewear products and transform millions of lives in the coming years.
- We are seeking a highly motivated and adaptable individual who will explore the peaks and valleys of all problems that may come up while building a new generation of wearable robots for everyday life.
- We are looking for an engineer who would primarily be responsible for the design, development, testing and validation of our powertrain, including motor control for novel actuators, and complex battery management.
- The team has just finished an "EVT" build, so we have functional prototypes but they need to be tested, improved and optimised with a whole-system approach.
- We are a team of 25 phenomenal senior engineers and product leaders, where everyone contributes directly to product development.
- Movement is a powerful way to build physical, mental and social health.
- We are building products that will restore mobility for millions and enable a new frontier of joyful movement experiences.
- We want to build a future where a grandparent can easily outrun their grandkids and no one is left behind at the trailhead.
- With deep cross-disciplinary expertise and key partnerships (e.g. with Arc'teryx) we are uniquely positioned to launch the first commercially successful wearable robotic device, the MO/GO, develop a platform to launch future Movewear products and transform millions of lives in the coming years.
- Some of the specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
- Understand every element of our power train; being the go-to person for troubleshooting
- Help us precisely control a range of actuators including off-the-shelf BLDCs, custom PMSM and axial flux motors, cycloid gearboxes, and series elastic actuators, including writing firmware for our motor control chip (currently c2000; but likely to change over time)
- Wear prototypes several hours a week to participate in data collection, on-body testing and provide feedback
- Bring joy to the team, participate in embarrassing team events, tolerate KZ's terrible music
- Basic Qualifications
- Extensive experience controlling PMSM, including Ti and STM chipsets
- Strong experience developing real-time firmware for multi-sensor systems
This listing is sourced directly from Skip's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.