Mechanical Design Engineer, Tactile Sensing

Responsibilities

• Design and develop mechanical components, assemblies, and skins for tactile sensors integrated into robotic end effectors (fingertips, palms, gripper surfaces) , data collection gloves and other contact-rich subsystems.

• Own the tactile sensor stack mechanically from transducer packaging and skin/elastomer design through integration into volume-constrained, cable-routed assemblies.

• Develop and tune elastomer / compliant materials (silicone, urethane, gels) including durometer selection, embedded markers or particles, surface texturing, and durability under shear and cyclic loading.

• Rapidly build, test, and break prototypes. Use 3D printing and manual fabrication to validate designs.

• Perform analyses (FEA, contact mechanics, tolerance, thermal) to validate sensor performance, predict failure modes, and guide design decisions.

• Design characterization fixtures and accelerated test plans — indenters, force/torque ground truth setups, shear testers, life-cycle rigs — to validate tactile performance under realistic contact conditions.

• Contribute to DFM/DFA efforts so sensor designs scale from low-volume prototypes to high-volume production.

• Source components and work closely with machine shops, materials suppliers, and contract manufacturers to ensure parts are manufactured and shipped to spec and on time.

• Develop specifications and accelerated test plans to validate the product for its lifetime.

• Collaborate cross-functionally with electrical, firmware, controls, and ML teams to translate raw sensor signals into usable manipulation feedback.

Qualifications

• Exceptional Mechanical Intuition. You understand how forces, materials, and contact mechanics behave instinctively.

• 5+ years of experience (or equivalent "hard tech" projects) building complex electromechanical systems, sensors, or tactile/haptic devices.

• Direct experience with at least one tactile sensing modality — capacitive, resistive, optical/vision-based, magnetic, , piezoelectric, MEMS, or barometric.

• Strong materials intuition, particularly with elastomers - hands-on experience with casting, molding, surface treatments, and characterization.

• Familiarity with rapid prototyping techniques such as 3D printing, machining, soft lithography, etc.

• High proficiency in SolidWorks, Catia, or similar CAD tools.

• Hands-on problem-solving approach with ability to iterate quickly.

• Experience designing for volume processes (injection molding, casting, CNC, etc.) and working with contract manufacturers.

• You are comfortable with ambiguity, move fast, and have an "engineering curiosity" that drives you to understand how the entire system works, not just your part.

• BONUS

• PhD or research experience in tactile / haptic sensing, soft robotics, or contact-rich manipulation.

• Experience designing sensor characterization rigs and analyzing the resulting data.

• Working knowledge of sensor electronics and analog front-ends sufficient to collaborate deeply with EE.

• Prior work on humanoid hands, dexterous grippers, or prosthetics.