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Principal Electrical Engineer - Compute and Sensing

Apptronik · Austin, TX · 1 mo ago
On-siteEngineeringFull-time

About the role

Apptronik is a human‑centered robotics company developing AI‑powered robots to support humanity in every facet of life. Its flagship humanoid robot, Apollo, is built to collaborate thoughtfully with people, starting with critical industries such as manufacturing and logistics, with future applications in healthcare, the home, and beyond. The team is dedicated to bringing Apollo to market at scale, tackling safety, commercialization, and mass‑production challenges.

Job Summary

Apptronik is seeking a world‑class Principal Compute & Sensing Engineer to serve as the lead architect for the “nervous system” of the Apollo humanoid robot. This top‑tier technical role designs and implements the high‑performance compute and sensory backbone required for general‑purpose robotics, overseeing end‑to‑end hardware architecture—from NVIDIA Jetson‑based carrier designs to electrical integration of complex perception suites—ensuring Apollo is powerful, redundant, and functionally safe.

Responsibilities

  • Primary Architect: Own the end‑to‑end design of Apollo’s safe compute architecture, selecting core processing elements (SoCs, FPGAs, MCUs) and designing system‑level redundancy to meet real‑time performance requirements.
  • High‑Performance PCB Design: Lead design and validation of custom carrier boards for high‑performance modules (e.g., NVIDIA Jetson), managing power delivery networks, thermal dissipation strategies, and high‑speed signal integrity for complex interfaces.
  • Manufacturing & Reliability: Drive Design for Manufacturability (DFM) and Design for Reliability (DFR) for compute modules, ensuring they can withstand high‑vibration and dynamic thermal environments of a mobile humanoid robot.
  • Multi‑Modal Sensing: Define the electrical architecture for a full perception stack, including LiDAR, depth cameras, IMUs, and tactile sensors.
  • Data Pipeline Optimization: Architect high‑bandwidth pipelines and synchronization protocols required for sensor fusion; manage communication interfaces (GigE, GMSL2, USB 3.0, MIPI) to ensure low‑latency data delivery to perception software.
  • Safety Architecture: Drive physical and logical architecture decisions required to meet Functional Safety standards.
  • Fail‑Safe Systems: Design hardware‑level redundancy, fail‑safe mechanisms, and Built‑In Tests (BIT) to achieve required safety integrity levels (ASIL/SIL) for operation in human‑occupied environments.
  • Diagnostics: Implement robust hardware diagnostics to monitor the health of the compute and sensing backbone in real time.
  • Multi‑Generational Roadmap: Define the long‑term technical roadmap for Apollo’s compute and sensing evolution, identifying emerging technologies (e.g., new SoCs or sensor modalities) to keep Apptronik at the cutting edge.
  • Cross‑Functional Influence: Act as the ultimate technical authority on compute/sensing during design reviews with Controls, Perception, and Systems Engineering teams.
  • Mentorship: Provide deep technical mentorship to electrical and embedded engineers, fostering a culture of rigorous engineering and innovation without administrative management responsibilities.

Requirements

  • Expertise: Proven track record designing custom carrier boards for NVIDIA Jetson or similar high‑end compute modules; mastery of high‑speed digital design (PCIe, DDR4/5, GMSL, 10 GbE); experience integrating multi‑sensor suites with precise hardware‑level time synchronization; hands‑on experience with Functional Safety architecture (ISO 26262 or equivalent).
  • Tools: Proficiency with Altium Designer (or similar) and hardware simulation tools (SPICE, Ansys, or HyperLynx).
  • Education: M.S. or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
  • Experience: 12+ years of experience in high‑performance hardware design, focusing on robotics, autonomous vehicles, or aerospace.

Physical Requirements

  • Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
  • Ability to lift up to 15 pounds occasionally.
  • Vision sufficient to read printed materials and a computer screen.
  • Hearing and speech sufficient to communicate.

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