Embedded Hardware Engineer - Electro Optical Systems

Acron Aviation•Sarasota, FL

3d•Onsite

About The Position

Trakka Systems is seeking a hands-on Embedded Hardware Engineer to design, develop, and debug the electronics inside our airborne, land, and maritime electro-optical products. This is a bench-forward design role where you will own circuit boards from concept through schematic capture, layout, bring-up, and qualification. You will be responsible for areas including real-time video processing, motor control and stabilization, serial communications, and DC/DC power regulation. In addition to new development, you will serve as the hardware escalation point for production and field service teams, applying instrumentation and root-cause analysis to existing units. The hardware you design goes into defense- and public-safety-focused products such as gyro-stabilized multi-axis gimbals with EO/IR sensor payloads, high-intensity searchlights, counter-UAS and detection systems, and airborne, land, and maritime platform integrations, including qualification to environmental, shock/vibration, and EMI/EMC requirements.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related discipline.
5+ years of hands-on embedded hardware design experience, including schematic capture and PCB layout of production hardware.
Demonstrated proficiency with lab instrumentation — you can independently select the right instrument, set up the measurement correctly, and interpret what you see.
Practical design and debug experience with embedded digital interfaces (SPI, I²C, UART/RS-232/RS-422, Ethernet) and at least one high-speed video or serial interface (HDMI, SDI, LVDS, or similar).
Working experience designing around microcontrollers (STM32 or comparable ARM Cortex-M) and FPGAs.
Solid grounding in power electronics: DC/DC topologies, regulation, sequencing, protection, and power/ground plane design.
Ability to read and interpret datasheets, reference designs, and errata, and to make defensible component and topology trade-offs.
Strong analytical and written communication skills; able to document findings clearly for engineering, production, and customer audiences.
Must be a U.S. Person as defined under ITAR/EAR and eligible to work on export-controlled programs.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Altium Designer and associated library and release management practices.
Brushless (BLDC/PMSM) motor drive and closed-loop control hardware experience; familiarity with stabilization systems, gyros, encoders, or IMUs a plus.
Real-time video and imaging electronics experience (EO/IR sensors, camera interfaces, video encoders/serializers).
FPGA design exposure (VHDL/Verilog) or close collaboration with FPGA teams on interface definition and timing closure.
Firmware/embedded C experience sufficient to write bring-up and diagnostic code.
Familiarity with aerospace or defense qualification standards (e.g., DO-160, MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-461) and IPC workmanship standards.
Experience supporting fielded airborne, land, or maritime systems, or prior work with EO/IR gimbals, high-intensity searchlights, or Counter-UAS products.
Background in structured root-cause analysis and continuous improvement methodologies.

Responsibilities

Own board-level design from requirements through release: architecture, component selection, schematic capture, and PCB layout for mixed-signal, high-speed digital, and power boards.
Design and implement circuitry for real-time video paths, brushless motor control and stabilization, serial communications, and DC/DC power regulation and distribution.
Apply disciplined power, ground, and high-speed design practice: stackup and impedance control, controlled return paths, plane partitioning, decoupling strategy, length/skew matching, and signal integrity for multi-gigabit and clocked interfaces.
Design for EMI/EMC, thermal performance, and environmental robustness in size-, weight-, and power-constrained enclosures.
Integrate and configure STM32 (and similar ARM Cortex-M) microcontrollers and FPGAs, working closely with firmware engineers on pinout, boot, clocking, memory, and interface definition.
Produce and maintain complete design documentation: schematics, BOMs, fabrication and assembly drawings, interface control documents, and test procedures.
Perform first-article board bring-up and power-on characterization, isolating and resolving hardware faults down to the component and signal level.
Use the full bench toolkit daily: oscilloscopes (including high-bandwidth and mixed-signal), spectrum analyzers, logic and protocol analyzers, function generators, DMMs, power supplies and electronic loads, thermal imaging, and network/serial test tools.
Debug and validate hardware interfaces including SPI, I²C, UART/RS-232/RS-422/RS-485, Ethernet, HDMI, SDI, CAN, USB, and LVDS/differential video links.
Measure and verify power rails, sequencing, ripple, transient response, efficiency, inrush, and load regulation; characterize noise coupling and grounding issues in real hardware rather than on paper.
Plan and execute design verification testing; support EMI/EMC and environmental qualification campaigns and drive corrective design changes based on results.
Act as the hardware technical resource for manufacturing and service personnel — resolving build, test, and yield issues and supporting escalations that exceed technician-level diagnosis.
Develop test fixtures, ATE requirements, functional test procedures, and troubleshooting guides that let production and service teams diagnose faults independently.
Perform failure analysis on returned and fielded units; determine root cause, recommend corrective action, and close the loop through engineering change orders and design improvements.
Apply design-for-manufacturability, design-for-test, and design-for-serviceability principles from the start of each project.
Provide occasional remote or on-site support for fielded systems.