About this Hardware Integration and Test Engineer role at Rai
At the Robotics and AI Institute, we blend the visionary thinking often reserved for academic settings with the disciplined teamwork and robust resources typical of top-tier industry teams, turning ambitious ideas into reality. We need people who are comfortable working between academia and industry and excited to build some cool hardware.
You will bring electromechanical subsystems to life, from first assembly and controlled power-up to robot integration and fleet deployment. Working across hardware, embedded software, controls, and research teams, you will characterize their behavior and turn measurements into better models, hardware, and control strategies.
What you'll do
Collaborate closely with design engineers and researchers to establish system requirements and construct verification strategies.
Assemble, integrate, and debug electromechanical subsystems through safe-first operation, resolving mechanical, electrical, and embedded interface issues across teams.
Design and operate instrumented test benches, HIL fixtures, roadkills, and dynamometers, selecting fixtures, sensors, data acquisition, and operating limits with engineering and safety leads.
Characterize motor and actuator torque, speed, current, efficiency, and thermal behavior. Build and validate models, and work with researchers to evaluate control strategies on hardware.
Plan and execute subsystem and on-robot verification with clear acceptance criteria, testing high-risk design choices early.
Automate test execution, synchronized data collection, and analysis. Check calibration and measurement quality, and compare results with requirements and models.
Document setups, interfaces, bring-up procedures, models, and results for reproducibility. Lead integration reviews and coordinate fault resolution.
What you'll need
BS in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
5+ years of relevant professional experience
Hands-on electromechanical bring-up and troubleshooting, including reading drawings and schematics, modifying test setups, and recognizing when to involve a specialist.
Understanding of motors, drives, feedback sensors, and basic controls, with experience characterizing actuators and developing or validating models.
Experience setting up instrumentation and data acquisition, including bench instruments and current, torque, or position sensors.
Proficiency with Python, MATLAB, or similar tools for test scripting, analysis, visualization, and comparison of models with measurements.
Ability to turn incomplete requirements into test plans and acceptance criteria, isolate failures, and communicate reproducible results across teams.
Safe-work experience with moving machinery, rotating test equipment, hazardous voltages, and stored energy, including controlled power-up and operating limits.
Comfort using AI tools to support technical research, documentation, and routine tasks, with sound judgment about verifying outputs and protecting confidential information.
Bonus
Experience in any of the following is a plus; none is required.
Motor dynamometer commissioning or operation, including load control and thermal testing.
Rust for embedded bring-up or test support; microcontroller firmware, real-time operating systems, or hardware-in-the-loop testing.
System identification, actuator friction and compliance modeling, or closed-loop control experiments.
3D CAD for test fixtures, machining, or rapid prototyping.
Linux and embedded communications such as CAN, EtherCAT, or Ethernet.
