Mechanical Design Engineer, Tactile Sensing

Mind Robotics•Palo Alto, CA

10d

About The Position

This role focuses on the design and development of mechanical components, assemblies, and skins for tactile sensors. These sensors are intended for integration into robotic end effectors, data collection gloves, and other subsystems that involve rich contact. The engineer will be responsible for the entire mechanical aspect of the tactile sensor stack, from packaging the transducers and designing the skin/elastomer to integrating them into assemblies with space and cabling constraints. A key part of the role involves developing and tuning compliant materials like silicones, urethanes, and gels, considering factors such as durometer, embedded markers, surface texturing, and durability under stress. The position requires a hands-on approach with rapid prototyping, testing, and analysis (FEA, contact mechanics, tolerance, thermal) to validate designs and predict failures. The engineer will also design characterization fixtures and test plans to assess tactile performance under realistic conditions and contribute to Design for Manufacturability and Assembly (DFM/DFA) to enable scaling from prototypes to production. Sourcing components and collaborating with manufacturers are also essential duties. The role involves cross-functional collaboration with electrical, firmware, controls, and ML teams to translate raw sensor data into actionable manipulation feedback.

Requirements

Exceptional Mechanical Intuition. You understand how forces, materials, and contact mechanics behave instinctively.
5+ years of experience (or equivalent "hard tech" projects) building complex electromechanical systems, sensors, or tactile/haptic devices.
Direct experience with at least one tactile sensing modality — capacitive, resistive, optical/vision-based, magnetic, piezoelectric, MEMS, or barometric.
Strong materials intuition, particularly with elastomers - hands-on experience with casting, molding, surface treatments, and characterization.
Familiarity with rapid prototyping techniques such as 3D printing, machining, soft lithography, etc.
High proficiency in SolidWorks, Catia, or similar CAD tools.
Hands-on problem-solving approach with ability to iterate quickly.
Experience designing for volume processes (injection molding, casting, CNC, etc.) and working with contract manufacturers.
You are comfortable with ambiguity, move fast, and have an "engineering curiosity" that drives you to understand how the entire system works, not just your part.

Nice To Haves

PhD or research experience in tactile / haptic sensing, soft robotics, or contact-rich manipulation.
Experience designing sensor characterization rigs and analyzing the resulting data.
Working knowledge of sensor electronics and analog front-ends sufficient to collaborate deeply with EE.
Prior work on humanoid hands, dexterous grippers, or prosthetics.

Responsibilities

Design and develop mechanical components, assemblies, and skins for tactile sensors integrated into robotic end effectors (fingertips, palms, gripper surfaces), data collection gloves and other contact-rich subsystems.
Own the tactile sensor stack mechanically from transducer packaging and skin/elastomer design through integration into volume-constrained, cable-routed assemblies.
Develop and tune elastomer / compliant materials (silicone, urethane, gels) including durometer selection, embedded markers or particles, surface texturing, and durability under shear and cyclic loading.
Rapidly build, test, and break prototypes. Use 3D printing and manual fabrication to validate designs.
Perform analyses (FEA, contact mechanics, tolerance, thermal) to validate sensor performance, predict failure modes, and guide design decisions.
Design characterization fixtures and accelerated test plans — indenters, force/torque ground truth setups, shear testers, life-cycle rigs — to validate tactile performance under realistic contact conditions.
Contribute to DFM/DFA efforts so sensor designs scale from low-volume prototypes to high-volume production.
Source components and work closely with machine shops, materials suppliers, and contract manufacturers to ensure parts are manufactured and shipped to spec and on time.
Develop specifications and accelerated test plans to validate the product for its lifetime.
Collaborate cross-functionally with electrical, firmware, controls, and ML teams to translate raw sensor signals into usable manipulation feedback.