Every motion our robots make starts with an actuator, and we're looking for an Actuator Systems Engineer to help us build better ones. This role is for someone who enjoys the full loop: building a model of how a motor or transmission should behave, rigorously testing this around other industry standards, and then iterating on the hardware or firmware until the desired specification is met.
You'll work across electrical, mechanical, and firmware design, and you'll own actuator performance from the bench all the way to robots running in people's homes. The things you learn and build will directly shape how safe, reliable, efficient, quiet, and strong our robots are.
Key job responsibilities
- Plan and run characterization testing on our actuators, covering things like torque constant, friction, efficiency, thermal behavior, and wear over time, and turn those results into models and specs the rest of the team can rely on
- Build and maintain electromechanical and thermal models of our actuators that help us predict robot performance, set safe operating limits, and support the controls and simulation teams
- Contribute to the electrical design of the actuator, including motor selection, motor drivers, sensing, and protection, working closely with our EE team and suppliers
- Contribute to the mechanical design of the actuator, including transmissions, bearings, housings, and thermal paths, with an eye toward torque density, efficiency, and manufacturability
- Write and tune motor control firmware, including current and position control, current and thermal limiting, calibration, and fault detection
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience in developing functional specifications, design verification plans and functional test procedures
- PhD in EE, ME, Robotics, Physics, or a related field, or a Master's degree in one of these fields and 4+ years of industry experience developing actuators, motors, or other electromechanical systems
- Experience building models of electromechanical or thermal systems and validating them against test data
- Hands-on experience testing and characterizing motors or actuators
- Experience writing embedded motor control firmware in C or C++, and analyzing data in Python
- Experience leading a technical project from early concept through validation
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience designing actuators for robots
- Experience with brushless motor design, field-oriented control, or power electronics
- Experience designing gear trains such as planetary, cycloidal, or harmonic drives
- Experience with thermal modeling and with reliability or life testing
- Experience taking an actuator design from prototype into production with suppliers
- Publications or patents related to actuation, motor control, or electromechanical design
The base salary range for this position is listed below. Your Amazon package will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.
USA, NY, New York - 157,100.00 - 212,600.00 USD annually