Senior Embedded Software Engineer - Servo Software

Intuitive Surgical•Sunnyvale, CA

39d

About The Position

Our Multiport Servo Software team is responsible for the real-time software and supervisory state machines that support critical performance, safety and user-facing features of the da Vinci Surgical System, Intuitive's flagship product. Our real-time software includes infrastructure for motion control algorithms, audio intercom and system sounds, data streaming and logging, and platform support for our next-generation da Vinci Simulator product line. Our workstreams depend upon and enable the work of other teams so we occupy an exciting intersection of real-time architecture, feature development, and demonstration of product safety and reliability. The successful candidate must excel in a high-energy, focused, small-team and cross-functional environment, be able to drive to solutions from rough requirements, and have a commitment to high product quality. They must demonstrate ownership of their areas of responsibility and of the overall product. A strong sense of shared responsibility and shared reward is required. A demonstrated experience and comfort working with modern C++ and State machines in an embedded environment is required.

Requirements

Bachelor's, Master's or PhD degree (Master's or PhD degree preferred), with minimum 5 years (or 3 years for PhD) of industry experience in developing embedded systems.
Experience in developing real-time embedded software for one or more of the following areas (or similar): motion-control, robotics, system state machines.
Experience in C++, familiarity with design patterns and object-oriented software architectures.
Experience in software support for hardware development including diagnostic tests, utilities, and self-tests.

Nice To Haves

Experience in top-level state machine development for complex products with human user interface provisions and critical safety considerations. Experience using tools like IBM Rational Rhapsody.
Experience with scripting languages (e.g. Python) for diagnostic/test automation.
Experience in developing applications for Embedded Linux and/or QNX is ideal
Comfort with concepts of design input, design output, traceability, and risk analysis.
Demonstrated experience and comfort with all phases of the product development lifecycle (design, implementation, debug, verification, validation, and transfer to manufacturing).
Experience with designing safety critical software products in an FDA or other regulated industry or for mission critical applications.

Responsibilities

Leverage control-systems software building blocks to provide servo functionality for multiple Intuitive Surgical robotic systems, maximizing flexibility and modularity while maintaining peak performance.
Contribute to the design, extension, and testing of our supervisory state machine software that serve as the system's top-level behavioral command control center.
Develop and maintain real-time software and state machine software responsible for validating robotic instruments and transitioning between robotic surgical procedures.
Design and develop product-focused, robust, efficient, and elegant C++ software in a heterogeneous, multi-processor SoC/FPGA/real-time-embedded environment.
Analyze and quantify overall system performance and safety, including verification of adherence to specifications as well as identification of improvement opportunities, such as reduced latency and increased reliability/determinism. Extend existing tools and create new tools to support such analysis efforts.
Interface and collaborate effectively and respectfully with other teams, including Platform Software, Electrical Engineering, System Analysis, System Test, User Interface Software Engineering, Manufacturing and Clinical Engineering.
Develop a thorough system-level knowledge from a clinical user perspective.
Participate in product risk analysis, defining requirements, implementing mitigations, and drafting and executing verification tests.
Document software designs according to Intuitive's development guidelines.
Engage in cross-functional resolution of critical problems.
Identify and prove out new architectural enhancements to the software infrastructure and development processes that elevate the broader organization beyond your own team.