Rhoda AI
Senior Mechanical Engineer- Mobile Base
Mountain View · Senior
Sponsorship not specifiedDetected 8 days ago
SpringAirflowSolidWorksCATIAFusion 360RoboticsMechanical DesignHardware DesignResearchCommunicationActuators
About the role
- We've raised over $450M and are investing aggressively in model research, infrastructure, hardware development, and manufacturing scale-up to make generalist robotics a reality.
- The base is the foundation of the entire system - it carries the drivetrain, battery, compute, and power electronics.
Responsibilities
- Own the drivetrain architecture for the mobile base, including wheel design and sourcing - evaluating off-the-shelf wheel vendors against a custom wheel development, and driving that decision to closure
- Lead actuator selection and integration for the drivetrain, interfacing directly with motor and gearbox vendors on specifications, customization, qualification, and supply
- Own the mechanical side of the battery interface - supporting the EE team on connector selection, tolerances, and blind-mate strategy, and designing an ergonomic, human-friendly battery pack that's easy to carry, insert, and remove
- Design the battery latch and retention mechanism, balancing retention security, tactile feedback, cycle life, and IPX sealing requirements
- Determine the optimal suspension strategy for the base - evaluating architectures against payload, floor conditions, stability, ride quality, and cost - and carry the chosen approach through design and validation
- Own packaging of compute and power boards within the base, including thermal architecture: heat sinking, airflow or conduction paths, and validation of thermal performance under real duty cycles
- Design the structural cast base, working with casting vendors on alloy selection, draft, wall thickness, tolerances, machining strategy, and structural validation
- Define and execute the ingress protection strategy for the entire base - seals, gaskets, cable pass-throughs, vents, and drainage - and validate against target IP ratings
- Create and maintain CAD models, drawings, tolerance stacks, and BOMs to support design reviews, prototyping, and manufacturing handoffs
- Plan and execute prototype builds and test campaigns - structural, thermal, ingress, and durability - and lead root cause analysis when issues arise
Requirements
- 5+ years of experience in mechanical design of mobile robots, vehicles, or complex electromechanical products
- Demonstrated experience with drivetrain design - wheels, motors, gearboxes, and brakes - including sizing actuators against dynamic requirements and integrating them into tight packages
- Track record of working directly with vendors on custom or semi-custom components: driving specifications, evaluating quotes, and managing qualification
- Experience designing battery packs, battery interfaces, or other user-serviceable electromechanical modules with attention to ergonomics and cycle life
- Experience packaging electronics with real thermal constraints, and validating thermal performance through analysis and test
- Expert-level proficiency with CAD software (Catia, SolidWorks, Fusion 360, Onshape, or similar) for complex part and assembly design
Nice to have
- Experience designing suspension systems for mobile robots, AGVs/AMRs, or small vehicles
- Experience with custom wheel development - tread compounds, hub design, and durability testing
- Familiarity with spring-applied or electromagnetic brakes and their integration into compact actuators
- Experience with high-pressure die casting (e.g., ADC12 or similar alloys) and design-for-casting best practices
- Experience achieving and certifying IP ratings (IPX4 and above) on sealed enclosures
- Familiarity with battery safety, transport regulations, or working alongside battery/BMS engineering teams
- Experience taking a subsystem from concept through DVT/PVT into production
- Join at a foundational moment and make architecture-level decisions that define the mobility, reliability, and serviceability of a next-generation humanoid robot
Company info
- What We're Looking For
- At Rhoda AI, we're building the next generation of generalist intelligent robots.
- We're looking for a Senior Mechanical Engineer to own the mobile base of our humanoid robot platform.
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