Hardware Team:
The Hardware Team at FieldAI develops perception and compute payloads that power autonomous robotics systems in complex real world environments. Our work spans the full hardware stack — designing and integrating sensing systems (LiDAR, camera, TOF, IMU, GPS), embedded compute (CPUs, GPUs, microcontrollers, Linux, ROS), electrical systems (power distribution, communication), and mechanical components (structures, thermal regulation, ingress protection). The team focuses on both development (research, design, prototyping, testing) and operations (production, testing, QA, debugging). We're a small, fast-moving team, and we care deeply about improving: 1) core capabilities, 2) system reliability, 3) system scalability. As a growing team we are also building operational systems and procedures from the ground up.
Systems Engineer Role:
As a Systems Engineer for Large Wheeled Platforms on the Hardware Team at FieldAI, you will bring new large wheeled platforms into our fleet and ensure that they operate at high standards in real world environments. This will involve integrating our control systems, autonomy stack, and payloads onto new robotic platforms. Your work will span across areas including platform abstraction, robot control, autonomy, sim-to-real validation, and electro-mechanical integration.
Responsibilities may include the full lifecycle from initial platform bring-up through safety qualification and field deployment. You will collaborate closely with the Autonomy/RL, Manipulation, Mechanical, and Electrical teams to build tightly integrated solutions ready for deployment in challenging field environments. Additionally while your focus will be on platform integration, you may contribute across hardware, field operations, and autonomy domains.
What You Will Get To Do
Platform Abstraction: Build software abstraction layers between each robot's native control stack (such as ROS/ROS2) and our own systems, enabling payloads to move across platforms.
Robot Controls & Navigation: Ensure navigation and controls stacks running correctly on physical hardware across quadruped, humanoid, and wheeled platforms.
Electro-Mechanical Integration: Work with mechanical and electrical engineers on designing and integrating mechanical (saddles) and electrical (power distributions boards) interfaces.
Sim-to-Real: Validate and adapt RL-based autonomy policies from simulation (Isaac, Gazebo, MuJoCo) to real-world performance on terrain, stairs, and uneven ground.
Cross-Functional Integration: Coordinate across Autonomy/RL, Manipulation, Mechanical, and Electrical teams to bring new platforms online.
Testing & Validation: Use SIL/HIL testing to ensure integrated systems are safe, reliable, and ready for field operation. Test features such as safety features and operations under different Operational Design Domains (ODDs).
New Robots: Identify, procure, test, and integrate diverse new robotic systems.
Multi-Platform Support: Support multiple robot morphologies including legged, quadruped, biped/humanoid, and wheeled UGVs.
Safety Systems: Implement e-stop and redundancy/fault-tolerant safety layers, contributing to functional safety (ISO 26262, ASIL) as practices mature.
Charging & Docking Infrastructure: Support charging station and docking infrastructure for charging, data offload, and communications.
Field Deployment Logistics: Handle the hands-on logistics of standing up new robot platforms for field deployment across construction, mining, and oil & gas environments.
1. Platform Integration & Controls
2. Cross-Team Collaboration & Fleet Scaling
3. Safety & Infrastructure
What You Have
Education: B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Robotics, Computer Science, or a related field.
Experience Level: We are looking to fill this role with someone with 1-5 years of experience.
Software: Hands-on experience with middleware (ROS/ROS2) and computing languages (python, C++).
Robotics Software Generalist: Strong generalist robotics software background spanning controls, navigation, and systems integration across legged and wheeled platforms.
Sim-to-Real Experience: Comfort working across the sim-to-real gap, validating RL or autonomy policies from simulation (Isaac, Gazebo, MuJoCo) on physical hardware.
Cross Functional Hardware Knowledge: Working familiarity with motors, actuation, BLDC motor controllers, and power distribution or electrical systems.
Communication Protocols: Familiarity with CAN bus, EtherCAT, or similar real-time robotics communication protocols.
Systems Thinking: Ability to work across mechanical, electrical, controls, and autonomy domains to make integrated systems function reliably on real hardware.
What Will Set You Apart
Multi-Platform Experience: Experience integrating software across multiple robot platforms, including legged/quadruped, humanoid, and wheeled UGVs (e.g., Unitree, Boston Dynamics, Clearpath).
Field Environments: Experience deploying robots in harsh, diverse industrial field environments such as construction, mining, and oil & gas.
Functional Safety: Background in functional safety standards (ISO 26262, ASIL, SOTIF/ISO 21448) and safety-critical systems testing and validation.
Advanced Controls: Experience with whole-body control, impedance/admittance control, MPC, or trajectory optimization for legged or manipulator systems.
Fleet & Infrastructure: Experience with multi-robot fleet operations, auto-docking/charging infrastructure, or teleoperation systems.
Skills Required
- B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Robotics, Computer Science, or a related field
- 1-5 years of professional experience
- Hands-on experience with ROS or ROS2
- Programming experience with Python and C++
- Generalist robotics software experience spanning controls, navigation, and systems integration
- Experience validating reinforcement learning or autonomy policies from simulation on physical hardware
- Working familiarity with motors, actuation, BLDC motor controllers, power distribution, or electrical systems
- Familiarity with CAN bus, EtherCAT, or similar real-time robotics communication protocols
- Ability to integrate mechanical, electrical, controls, and autonomy systems
- Experience integrating software across multiple robot platforms, including legged, humanoid, and wheeled UGVs
- Experience deploying robots in construction, mining, oil and gas, or other industrial field environments
- Background in functional safety standards including ISO 26262, ASIL, or SOTIF/ISO 21448
- Experience with whole-body control, impedance or admittance control, MPC, or trajectory optimization
- Experience with multi-robot fleet operations, auto-docking, charging infrastructure, or teleoperation systems
What We Do
FieldAI is pioneering the development of a field-proven, hardware agnostic brain technology that enables many different types of robots to operate autonomously in hazardous, offroad, and potentially harsh industrial settings – all without GPS, maps, or any pre-programmed routes.
