Robotics Hardware Engineer

Job description

Job Posting Title: Robotics Hardware Engineer ---- Hiring Department: Department of Computer Science ---- Position Open To: All Applicants ---- Weekly Scheduled Hours: 40 ---- FLSA Status: Exempt from FLSA ---- Earliest Start Date: Immediately ---- Position Duration: Expected to Continue ---- Location: UT MAIN CAMPUS ---- Job Details: General Notes The Center for Human and Robot Co-Adaptation (HRC) brings together six universities: The University of Texas at Austin, Indiana University Bloomington, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University, University of Utah, and Yale University. Together, we study how people and robots can, do, and might adapt to one another over months and years as needs, skills, expectations, and social contexts change. The Center unites researchers across robotics, AI, cognitive science, social science, data, and ethics to establish a new science of human-robot co-adaptation. This science will be developed, tested, and refined through the Human Environment with Robots (HERO) Facility Network: long-term deployments of assistive robots in real-world settings including student dorms, cafés, museums, homes, hospitals, and assisted-living facilities. The Center is supported by a five-year, $30 million award from the National Science Foundation through its Science and Technology Centers (STC) program. Purpose The Center Robotics Hardware Engineer will develop, integrate, maintain, and deploy the robots for HERO deployments and foundational research necessary to advance the strategic goals of the Center. This position will require integrating sensors, compute and additional components with off-the-shelf robotics systems to support deployments at multiple sites across the Center, and to develop a common set of integration and field operations procedures to ensure that the robots remain safe, reliable, maintainable, and continuously deployable for Center research. A successful candidate will be a hands-on engineer with strong hardware and software expertise who can assemble systems based on desired functionality and operational constraints. They will have to independently assess the requirements, plan for integration of, and debug failures as necessary --- spanning mechanical, electrical, sensing, communications, driver, middleware, and application layers. The engineer will be expected to take ownership of the Center's robotic platforms, document their operation and maintenance, support their replication at Center sites, and develop safeguards that minimize the likelihood of failures. The Robotics Hardware Engineer will work closely with the Robotics Software Engineer to coordinate platform integration, deployment readiness, troubleshooting, and upgrades across the Center’s robotic systems. Responsibilities Center Robotic Platform Ownership and Standardization • Own the hardware and software integration, operational readiness, maintenance, and field deployment of mobile robotic platforms. • Develop and maintain standardized platform configurations that can be replicated across HERO sites. • Translate research and deployment needs into robot hardware, sensing, computing, communication, and integration requirements. • Evaluate new robot platforms, sensors, compute systems, and other technologies and recommend upgrades as Center needs and the state of the art evolve. • Coordinate with Center researchers and the Center Software Engineer to ensure platforms support the scientific goals of the Center. Reliability, Deployment Readiness, and HERO Operations • Maintain Center robots in a safe, reliable, maintainable, and continuously deployable state. • Establish repeatable procedures for setup, calibration, configuration, inspection, transportation, deployment, recovery, maintenance, and repair. • Develop health checks, monitoring, startup validation, fault detection, and other safeguards to identify failures before deployment and prevent recurring problems. • Support and, when appropriate, lead technical field operations for HERO studies and demonstrations. • Diagnose deployment failures and coordinate recovery or repair with local site personnel. Multi-Site Replication and Technical Coordination • Document reference platform configurations and support their replication and validation across HERO sites --- including integration diagrams, BOMs, installation guides and reference manuals. • Work with local facility personnel and researchers to troubleshoot site-specific hardware and deployment issues. • Maintain configuration control across platforms, including hardware revisions, firmware, software compatibility, calibration, and spare-part requirements. • Coordinate platform changes and upgrades across sites to minimize fragmentation and maintain interoperability. • Work closely with the Center Software Engineer and research teams on problems that cross hardware/software boundaries. Required Qualifications • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, Mechatronics, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field. • Two or more years of relevant professional, research, or field engineering experience involving robotic, autonomous, electromechanical, or similarly complex systems. • Programming proficiency in Python and C++ or comparable languages used in robotics systems. • Experience with ROS 2. • Hands-on experience integrating sensors, embedded computers, electrical components, communications hardware, and mechanical assemblies. • Strong critical-thinking, debugging, and root-cause-analysis skills. • Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills. Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate. Preferred Qualifications • Experience deploying mobile manipulation robots or autonomous systems in real-world field environments. • Experience with RGB-D camera systems such as Intel RealSense, Stereolabs ZED, Orbbec, or comparable platforms. • Proficiency with Li