Staff Test Engineer - Actuation

3 days, 9 hours ago
Full-time
Lead
Quality Assurance and Testing
Apptronik

Apptronik

Apptronik develops versatile humanoid robots to tackle tasks humans prefer not to do, aiming to reshape existence and enhance universal quality of life.

Aerospace & Defense
51-250
Founded 2015
$23M raised

Description

  • Lead actuator bringup and calibration, including firmware deployment, motor and encoder calibration, and functional verification.
  • Plan and execute design validation campaigns across mechanical, electrical, and system-level performance domains.
  • Develop production-ready NPI test methods, including scripts, post-processing, pass/fail criteria, operator documentation, and handoff materials.
  • Build Python-based test automation, data pipelines, and analysis tools for scalable validation.
  • Operate and configure dynamometers, benchtop rigs, and custom test setups for actuator testing.
  • Manage fixture configurations and load motor modes across different actuator and gearbox variants.
  • Diagnose actuator issues across firmware, electrical, and mechanical domains and provide actionable root-cause feedback.
  • Apply system identification techniques to characterize actuator dynamics and support hardware validation and simulation fidelity.
  • Collaborate closely with mechanical, electrical, firmware, and controls engineers on test results, failure modes, and design improvements.
  • Communicate findings and recommendations clearly to engineering and program leadership.

Requirements

  • Direct hands-on experience testing and characterizing actuators, motors, or gearboxes, including dynamometer or motor test stand operation.
  • Experience with motor bringup and calibration workflows, with enough firmware and electrical fluency to diagnose calibration and drive faults independently.
  • Strong cross-disciplinary debugging ability across mechanical, electrical, and firmware domains.
  • Proficiency writing production-grade Python for test automation, data analysis, and post-processing.
  • Demonstrated experience designing test methods and procedures, including pass/fail criteria and handoff documentation.
  • Ability to read and interpret electrical schematics, mechanical drawings, and motor datasheets.
  • Experience working in multi-disciplinary hardware teams with fast iteration cycles.
  • Comfort operating at staff level by leading technical workstreams, influencing engineering decisions with data, and mentoring others.
  • BS in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Computer Science, or related field plus 6 years of relevant experience, or MS plus 4 years, or PhD plus 2 years.
  • Preferred: experience with humanoid or legged robot actuator systems, thermal modeling, motor drive electronics, power electronics, system identification, production test transfer, simulation tools such as MuJoCo or Isaac Sim/Lab, and Docker or other automation tooling.

Interested in this position?

Apply directly on the company website

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