Motion Control Engineer - Actuator Control Algorithms

At Mentee Robotics, we are redefining humanoid automation with an AI-first approach - combining perception, reasoning, and dexterous manipulation into fully autonomous systems that continuously learn and adapt.

We are now expanding with a new robotics Engineering Center in China, working hand-in-hand with our engineering teams in headquarters. Its mission: to rapidly develop our next-generation full-size humanoid and bring it to life - a walking, working platform that becomes the foundation of our next generation of products. This is a small, senior, hands-on team where speed of iteration is the core value.

We are looking for a Motion Control Engineer to own the control algorithms of every joint in our humanoid - jointly with the embedded team, who implement your designs on the Motor Controller PCB. This is pure actuator control: FOC, loop design, estimation, and compensation. Whole-body behavior lives in learned policies; your job is to make every joint execute its commands perfectly.

Who you are

• A motor control specialist who can take a noisy, nonlinear physical joint and make it track like a servo catalog page

• Equally fluent in control theory and in what the silicon can actually compute in a 60 kHz loop

• Data-driven: you tune with measurements, plots, and system identification - not by feel alone

Responsibilities

• Define and validate the motor control methodology across the robot: FOC and commutation strategies for BLDC motors in quasi-direct-drive configurations with planetary reduction

• Design current, velocity, and position/torque control loops; define bandwidths, filtering, anti-windup, and saturation handling

• Develop torque estimation, friction and cogging compensation, and observers for joint state

• Define joint-level safety limits and fault-handling behavior together with embedded

• Guide and verify the embedded implementation of your algorithms on the Motor Controller PCB; co-own everything running on that board

• Design and execute structured characterization tests on the joint dyno: torque, speed, resolution, responsiveness, thermal behavior

• Deliver validated actuator models and control limitations to the Sim2Real and RL teams - your measured envelopes become their training constraints

• Drive improvements in actuation repeatability and responsiveness through precise measurement and feedback

Requirements

• B.Sc. or M.Sc. in Electrical, Mechanical, or Control Engineering (or equivalent experience)

• 8+ years in motor control systems or motion system integration

• Deep hands-on experience with FOC and current/velocity/position loop design for BLDC motors

• Familiarity with planetary gear systems and QDD architectures, and their impact on control and sensing

• Proven ability to define and lead performance test plans from lab setup to interpretation

• Comfortable using lab tools (oscilloscopes, encoders, current sensors) to evaluate dynamic behavior under load and in closed loop

• Impedance control and proprioceptive actuation experience

Advantages

• Experience in robotic or humanoid actuation or servo drive companies

• Familiarity with harmonic gear systems and their control implications

• Python for scripting, system identification, and data analysis

• Understanding of how sensor noise, latency, and actuation limits affect learned whole-body policies

• Comfortable communicating technical topics in English with international teams