Controls Engineer

As a Controls Engineer, you will design and implement the algorithms that make PI’s robots behave predictably, smoothly, and safely under varied and uncertain conditions.

The Controls team builds and tunes the core feedback and model-based algorithms, real-time loops, simulations, and actuator/sensor subsystems that make PI’s robots stable and reliable. They work closely with research, hardware, and operations to debug complex system behaviors and ensure our learning-based systems operate under strict real-time constraints in unpredictable environments.

• Deep understanding of model-based control algorithms and inverse dynamics

• Ability to validate control approaches in simulation and translate them to real hardware

• Proficiency in Python and C++, including firmware-adjacent development

• Skill in writing and tuning real-time control loops

• Hands-on capability to debug electromechanical systems end-to-end

• Familiarity with embedded communication protocols (CAN, SPI, I2C, Ethernet)

• Clear communication with researchers, hardware teams, and operators

• A structured, collaborative approach to solving complex system issues

• Background in manipulation or mobile robotic platforms

• Exposure to robot learning or integrating learned policies into control stacks

• Ability to design or refine custom actuator or sensor hardware

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.