Firmware Engineer
Mind Robotics3 months ago
Palo Alto, CA, USASenior
Responsibilities
- Write, test, and maintain production firmware in C/C++ or Rust for microcontrollers and embedded processors.
- Implement and debug CAN, EtherCAT, I2C, SPI, and UART communication across distributed hardware nodes.
- Configure microcontroller peripherals including GPIO, ADC, PWM, timers, and DMA for sensors, actuators, and power electronics.
- Integrate encoders, IMUs, torque sensors, and force/torque arrays into real-time robot pipelines.
- Collaborate with electrical engineers on board bring-up, pinout definitions, and hardware-software interfaces.
- Develop and tune real-time control loops for motors, actuators, and other physical systems.
- Build firmware validation, regression-testing, and hardware-in-the-loop tooling.
- Debug interactions among firmware, hardware, and higher-level software during development and field deployment.
Requirements
- Technical degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or equivalent experience.
- Demonstrated experience building firmware for physical systems such as robots, motors, or power electronics through work, research, or projects.
- Deep fluency in C/C++ and/or Rust for embedded targets, including reading datasheets and writing drivers.
- Hands-on experience with RTOS environments such as FreeRTOS or Zephyr, including task scheduling, priority management, and real-time guarantees.
- Strong knowledge of CAN, EtherCAT, I2C, SPI, and UART.
- Experience configuring GPIO, ADC, PWM, timers, and DMA and understanding their timing and performance effects.
- Experience integrating sensors and actuators at the firmware level with understanding of the underlying hardware.
- Ability to debug across hardware and software using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and JTAG.
- Preferred experience includes safety-critical or deterministic real-time systems, IEC 61508, ISO 26262, field-oriented control, Linux-based embedded systems, and Python scripting for test automation or hardware validation.
About Mind Robotics
Mind Robotics builds generalizable industrial robots and the software runtime that lets them perceive, decide, and act under hard real-time constraints. It sells robotic systems and AI-driven middleware for factory-floor tasks, working directly with manufacturers; it has publicly cited a deployment partnership with Rivian. Founded in 2025 and headquartered in Palo Alto, the privately held company focuses on dexterous, adaptive automation for complex production environments.