Robotics Controls Engineer

Miso Robotics•Los Angeles, CA

62d•$100,000 - $125,000•Onsite

About The Position

Miso Robotics develops technology that elevates human lives in the commercial kitchen by engineering production-ready robotic systems that tightly integrate perception, real-time decision making, and electromechanical controls to automate dangerous and undesirable tasks in food preparation. Their flagship platform, Flippy, is operating in high-volume restaurant kitchens, and their Kitchen Intelligence software, Zippy, expands the role of AI-enabled autonomy. Miso combines the stability of a proven commercial product with the technical depth and ambition of a company innovating in robotics and restaurant operations. They are looking for individuals excited by hard constraints, real customers, and the challenge of making software and machines perform reliably where failure isn’t an option. As a Robotics Controls Engineer, you will design, develop, and improve the motion control systems for Miso Robotics’ Flippy robotic arm and contribute to the next generation of automated cooking robots. You will focus on precise and reliable robot motion, including trajectory planning, control algorithms, sensor feedback, simulation, and real-world performance. Your work will directly impact a 6-DOF robot cooking food for real customers. You will take ideas from simulation and prototyping through testing, debugging, and deployment on hardware, collaborating with cross-functional teams to turn robotics R&D into robust, production-ready systems. This role is ideal for an early-career engineer eager to work hands-on with robots and grow in controls, motion planning, system integration, and deployment, requiring a strong engineering foundation, a startup mindset, and a drive for robotic automation. The position is based onsite at Miso’s Pasadena Robotics lab.

Requirements

BS Robotics Engineer / Control Systems (or similar)
2+ years of hands-on experience developing robotics or motion-control systems, including work with robotic arms or other multi-axis mechanisms.
Strong understanding of robot kinematics, including forward/inverse kinematics, coordinate frames, Jacobians, and workspace analysis.
Use of AI coding tools such as Copilot, Cursor, and Claude
Developing motion-control algorithms, including trajectory generation, PID/control loops, velocity and acceleration control, and motion profiling.
Strong C++ and/or Python programming skills for developing and debugging robotic control software.
Experience with ROS/ROS 2 or comparable robotics middleware, including integration of sensors, actuators, controllers, and higher-level robotic behaviors.
Experience working with robotic hardware, including servo motors, motor controllers, encoders, force/torque sensors, and other feedback systems.
Understanding of real-time robotic systems, including control-loop timing, latency, synchronization, communication protocols, and deterministic behavior.
Integrating perception and sensor feedback into robot motion, such as using cameras, force sensors, or other sensors for closed-loop control.
Strong debugging and system-integration skills, with the ability to diagnose problems across mechanical, electrical, firmware, and software components and validate solutions on physical robots.

Nice To Haves

Experience with 6+ DOF robotic arms
Use of advanced AI and ML models applied to Robotics systems and motion control
Collision detection and robot safety systems
Motion planning frameworks such as MoveIt
Gazebo, Isaac Sim, or other robot simulation
Force/impedance control
Experience optimizing cycle time and repeatability
Experience deploying robots in industrial or commercial environments
Familiarity with functional safety / OSHA-oriented robotic safety practices
Experience with high-duty-cycle robotic systems operating around heat, grease, vibration, and variable loads

Responsibilities

Develop and improve motion behaviors for a 6-DOF robotic arm mounted on a linear axis, including end-effector and gripper control.
Develop kinematic and dynamic models of the robotic arm, including forward/inverse kinematics, Jacobians, and gravity/force compensation.
Implement trajectory generation and motion planning for smooth, precise, and collision-free robot motion.
Tune PID, impedance, force/torque, and other control loops to achieve required positioning accuracy, repeatability, and dynamic performance.
Develop motion sequences for cooking operations such as picking, placing, stirring, flipping, dispensing, scraping, and transferring food.
Integrate motion control with computer vision, object detection, and sensor feedback to enable closed-loop robotic behaviors.
Develop real-time responses to changing conditions, such as food position, unexpected obstacles, and variations in cooking processes.
Interface motion-control software with motor drives, encoders, force/torque sensors, safety systems, and other robot hardware.
Optimize robot motion for cycle time, energy consumption, smoothness, and mechanical wear while maintaining cooking quality.
Implement collision detection, joint limits, workspace limits, velocity/acceleration limits, and other motion safety mechanisms.
Develop fault detection, recovery, and safe-stop behaviors for abnormal sensor, actuator, or communication conditions.
Develop and maintain the real-time software architecture connecting high-level task planning with low-level servo control.
Perform simulation, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and real-world validation of motion-control algorithms.
Analyze robot performance using telemetry and logs to identify positioning errors, oscillations, latency, mechanical issues, and control instability.
Calibrate robot joints, tools/end-effectors, coordinate frames, and sensors to maintain accurate spatial positioning.
Develop automated motion-control test procedures and regression tests for new software and hardware releases.
Collaborate with mechanical, electrical, perception, AI/ML, and application software engineers to integrate the complete robotic system.
Improve robustness of the system to real-world restaurant conditions, including heat, grease, vibration, food debris, variable loads, and high duty cycles.
Support robot installations, field deployments, and on-site system tuning at customer locations, with occasional travel required.