Senior FPGA Programmer

Brooks is a leading provider of automation solutions with over 40 years of experience in the semiconductor industry, offering precision robotics, integrated automation systems, and contamination control solutions that empower chip manufacturers worldwide. Our product portfolio includes robots, vacuum systems, and atmospheric robots for semiconductor manufacturing.

About the role

We are seeking a highly skilled Senior FPGA Engineer to lead the architecture, development, and implementation of advanced FPGA-based systems for next-generation motion control, machine vision, and distributed automation platforms. This role will focus on developing ultra-low-latency FPGA architectures supporting:

• High-speed sensor acquisition
• Real-time image processing
• Multi-axis motion control
• Distributed EtherCAT-based control networks
• Precision electromagnetic actuation systems
• Hardware acceleration of computationally intensive algorithms

The ideal candidate combines deep FPGA expertise with strong system-level understanding of controls, sensors, embedded systems, and real-time deterministic architectures. The role provides significant opportunity to influence product architecture, contribute to intellectual property development, and drive breakthrough performance in advanced automation platforms.

Responsibilities

FPGA Architecture & Development

• Lead development of FPGA-based systems including:
  • Real-time control architectures
  • Sensor acquisition pipelines
  • High-speed communication interfaces
  • Hardware acceleration engines
  • Multi-channel synchronized processing systems
• Design and implement:
  • HDL-based designs using VHDL and/or Verilog/SystemVerilog
  • Modular and reusable FPGA architectures
  • Deterministic low-latency processing pipelines
  • Multi-clock domain systems
  • High-bandwidth data movement architectures
• Develop FPGA solutions for:
  • Motion control
  • Precision positioning systems
  • Machine vision
  • High-speed metrology
  • Electromagnetic actuator control

Motion Control & Real-Time Systems

• Develop FPGA implementations supporting:
  • High-bandwidth control loops
  • Current control loops
  • Position and velocity control
  • Multi-axis synchronized motion
  • Deterministic distributed control architectures
• Implement:
  • PWM generation
  • Encoder interfaces
  • Real-time feedback processing
  • State-space and advanced control algorithms
  • Control loop acceleration
• Support architectures capable of:
  • Sub-millisecond closed-loop response
  • Hundreds of synchronized control channels
  • Distributed real-time execution

Machine Vision & Sensor Processing

• Design FPGA pipelines for:
  • High-speed camera interfaces
  • Real-time image acquisition
  • Marker extraction and tracking
  • Edge detection and feature extraction
  • Sensor fusion architectures
• Develop real-time processing solutions for:
  • Gigabit Ethernet Vision
  • MIPI interfaces
  • Camera Link
  • CoaXPress
  • Custom sensor interfaces
• Implement:
  • DMA architectures
  • Frame buffering
  • Hardware image processing accelerators
  • Deterministic vision-processing pipelines

High-Speed Data & Communication Systems

• Develop FPGA-based communication architectures including:
  • EtherCAT
  • SPI
  • Parallel SPI
  • UART
  • CAN
  • PCIe
  • Gigabit Ethernet
  • Multi-Gigabit SerDes
• Design:
  • Distributed synchronization architectures
  • Precision timing systems
  • Networked FPGA platforms
  • Multi-node control systems
• Support scalable architectures capable of coordinating large numbers of distributed devices.

Hardware Integration & Board Bring-Up

• Collaborate closely with:
  • Electrical engineers
  • Controls engineers
  • Mechanical engineers
  • Software engineers
  • Systems architects
• Support:
  • FPGA board selection
  • SoC architecture development
  • Hardware bring-up and validation
  • Signal integrity debugging
  • Power and thermal optimization
• Interface with:
  • ADCs
  • DACs
  • Sensors
  • Power electronics
  • Motor drivers
  • High-speed memory systems

Performance Optimization

• Lead efforts to optimize:
  • FPGA resource utilization
  • Latency
  • Throughput
  • Memory bandwidth
  • Determinism
  • Power consumption
• Create automated test environments for:
  • Functional verification
  • Hardware-in-the-loop validation
  • Timing closure verification
  • Production readiness testing

Innovation & Technical Leadership

• Drive technical innovation through:
  • Patent disclosures
  • Intellectual property creation
  • Architecture reviews
  • Technical mentoring
  • Best-practice development
• Contribute to next-generation:
  • Control architectures
  • Vision systems
  • Motion control platforms
  • AI-assisted hardware acceleration

Requirements

• B.S., M.S., or PhD in:
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Computer Engineering
  • Robotics
  • Controls Engineering
  • Related technical discipline
• 8+ years of FPGA development experience
• Expert proficiency with:
  • VHDL
  • Verilog/SystemVerilog
  • FPGA design methodologies
• Strong experience with one or more FPGA families:
  • AMD/Xilinx
  • Intel/Altera
  • Lattice
• Demonstrated experience developing:
  • Real-time FPGA control systems
  • High-speed sensor interfaces
  • Hardware accelerators
  • Multi-channel synchronized processing architectures
• Strong understanding of:
  • Digital signal processing
  • Control systems
  • Motion control
  • Hardware/software partitioning
  • Timing closure methodologies
• Experience with:
  • Simulation and verification
  • Testbench development
  • Hardware debugging
  • Lab instrumentation

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in:
  • Precision motion control systems
  • Semiconductor equipment
  • Robotics
  • Advanced automation
  • Machine vision
• Knowledge of:
  • EtherCAT networks
  • Distributed controls
  • Sensor fusion
  • Computer vision acceleration
  • FPGA-based image processing
• Experience implementing:
  • Kalman filtering
  • State estimation
  • Motor control
  • Electromagnetic actuator control
  • Real-time control loops
• Familiarity with:
  • MATLAB/Simulink
  • Python
  • C/C++
  • Embedded Linux
• Experience with:
  • Zynq SoCs
  • PCIe architectures
  • High-speed memory interfaces (DDR4/DDR5)
  • Multi-gigabit serial transceivers

Pay

Base Salary Range: $118,265.18 USD to $160,005.83 USD. Factors which may affect starting pay within this range may include geography/market,