Senior Motor Control Engineer

1X • San Carlos, CA

5d

About The Position

1X is building NEO, a humanoid robot designed to work in homes. The Actuators team develops the electromechanical systems that enable NEO to move, working across mechanical design, electric motors, sensing, power transmission, controls integration, and hardware validation with electrical, controls, firmware, test, and manufacturing teams.

The Senior Motor Control Engineer owns motor control for the REVO2 family of in-house permanent magnet synchronous motors and new motors used in quasi-direct-drive and geared joints throughout the robot. The role designs, simulates, tunes, and validates controllers to deliver quiet, smooth, backdrivable, compliant motion and accurate torque within current, voltage, and thermal limits. It takes controllers from modeling and simulation through dynamometer testing and full-robot validation, and defines operating limits, fault reactions, and torque-off behavior for safety.

The engineer works with the electromagnetic design team to translate FEA results into control-oriented motor models and return control findings to future motor revisions. They also collaborate with electrical and firmware engineers to implement production control strategies, parameters, and supporting validation evidence.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Controls, Mechatronics, Robotics, or a related field.
• 3+ years of industry experience designing and tuning motor control on real hardware; level is based on depth and scope of ownership.
• Experience designing or tuning production-shipped or formally validated PMSM or BLDC motor control using field-oriented control and cascaded current, velocity, and position loops.
• Strong command of PMSM modeling in the dq frame, space-vector PWM, inverter non-idealities such as dead time and current sensing, ADC and PWM timing, and voltage limits.
• Hands-on experience with motor-parameter identification and position-sensor calibration, including encoder, Hall, or resolver calibration and commutation offset.
• Dynamometer experience measuring torque constant, efficiency, torque ripple, and loop response, and using the data to make control changes.
• Experience with controller modeling and simulation in MATLAB/Simulink or Python.
• Ability to read embedded C/C++ well enough to trace control behavior to the code.
• Knowledge of frequency-domain design, discrete-time and delay effects, saturation, and anti-windup.
• Strong motor-physics intuition and ability to diagnose motor and control behavior from equations and measured data.
• Hands-on debugging experience at the hardware, firmware, and control boundary.
• Safety-first judgment in designing limits, fault reactions, and torque-off behavior.
• Clear communication and effective collaboration with motor design, electrical, firmware, and test engineers.

Nice To Haves

• Torque and impedance control for robotic joints, quasi-direct-drive or geared actuators, backdrivability, and compliant physical interaction.
• Field weakening and MTPA on low-voltage drives, plus thermal modeling and derating of small motors.
• Control-oriented motor modeling using FEA-derived plant models such as JMAG-RT, and co-simulation with electromagnetic design teams.
• Torque ripple, cogging, and acoustic-noise reduction in servo or robotic actuators.
• Embedded firmware development in C/C++ on STM32, TI C2000, or similar, including ISR timing, DMA, and ADC/PWM synchronization.
• EtherCAT or CAN FD at 1 kHz and above, and experience with a real-time OS such as FreeRTOS or Zephyr.
• Functional-safety experience with IEC 61508, ISO 13849, or IEC 61800-5-2, including STO, and familiarity with robot safety standards such as ISO 13482 and ISO 10218.
• Sensorless control and observer design.
• MS or PhD with research in motor drives or control.

Responsibilities

• Design and tune field-oriented control with space-vector PWM and cascaded current, velocity, and position loops for REVO2 motor variants; document bandwidth, phase margin, and step-response targets for each joint.
• Develop torque and impedance control modes that enable backdrivability and compliance, and verify torque accuracy at the joint output.
• Build a motor-parameter identification process for resistance, inductance, flux linkage, inertia, and friction that runs on dynamometers and scales to production units.
• Own encoder, Hall, and resolver calibration and commutation-offset procedures.
• Reduce torque ripple and acoustic noise using cogging and ripple compensation, feedforward, and friction compensation, measured on dynamometers and the robot.
• Improve torque and speed from a low-voltage battery bus using field weakening, MTPA, and voltage-limit handling while respecting current and thermal limits.
• Define and validate fault detection and reactions for overcurrent, overvoltage, undervoltage, overtemperature, stall, and sensor loss, including safe torque-off behavior.
• Characterize control performance on dynamometers, including torque constant, efficiency maps, torque ripple, thermal behavior, and loop response; develop repeatable methods and clear reports.
• Build and maintain control-oriented plant models in JMAG-RT, MATLAB/Simulink, or Python; correlate them with dynamometer and robot data and feed findings into motor and drive revisions.
• Work with the electromagnetic design team to translate FEA results into control-oriented models and inform future motor revisions.
• Work with electrical and firmware engineers to implement control strategies in production, including parameters and evidence that the controls work.
• Debug issues at the hardware, firmware, and control boundary, using measurement data and code to identify root causes.
• Communicate clearly with motor design, electrical, firmware, and test engineers, and participate early in hardware decisions that affect control.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Generous paid time off, company holidays, and parental leave.
• 401(k) plan with company match: 100% on the first 3% of contributions and 50% on the next 2%.
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) and Health Savings Accounts (HSA) options.
• Commuter benefits for transit and parking.
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance and life insurance.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for mental health, financial, and personal support.
• Onsite snacks and catered lunches.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior