Robot Platform Engineer

📋 Job Overview

Join neura robotics gmbh as a Robot Platform Engineer to work on the core platform that brings our robotic systems to life. You will be responsible for implementing and maintaining the robot abstraction layer, middleware wiring, operational state machines, and various other critical components that ensure our robots operate safely and efficiently.

🏢 About [Company]

neura robotics gmbh is a leading company in the field of robotics, dedicated to developing advanced robotic systems that solve real-world problems. Our team is composed of highly skilled engineers and researchers who are passionate about pushing the boundaries of what robots can do.

🎯 The Role

As a Robot Platform Engineer, you will be working on the core platform that brings our robotic systems to life. Your day-to-day tasks will include implementing the robot abstraction layer, wiring middleware, designing operational state machines, and ensuring the overall health and functionality of our robotic platforms.

✅ Key Responsibilities

• Robot Abstraction Integration: Work in the code of the Robot-Abstraction-Layer and implement the abstraction layer that maps the hardware capabilities of your platform to the common platform-API.
• MiddleWare Wiring for your platform: Work with ROS 2 Launch Graph + ros2_control YAML + DDS QoS on platforms with standard middleware; with OROCOS RTT Pipelines on platforms with Hard-RT-Control-Loops; or with Apex.OS on SIL/PLd-certified setups.
• Operational State Machine: Implement BOOT → HOMING → OPERATIONAL → FAULT → E-STOP → RECOVERY for your platform, including all transition guards, entry/exit actions, and timeout handling.
• Mode Switching: Select active controllers, secure mode switches, safe mode entries/exits, and a Gravity-Compensation-Only mode.
• Power-On/Off-Sequences: Manage boot sequence, activate/deactivate drives in the correct order, orchestrate the homing process, and controlled shutdown.
• Watchdog & Fault Management: Classify errors, select recovery measures, and escalate to E-Stop.
• Robot-Level Health Monitoring: Aggregate diagnostics, joint states, temperatures, proximity to limits, and communication latencies.
• gRPC Server Implementation: Implement mode commands, state queries, fault acknowledgement, and streaming of joint states, operational states, and diagnostics.
• Proto Message Co-Ownership: Share responsibility for the Robot-Control-API (Protobuf) with the Platform Architect and Robot Client SDK Engineer.
• Platform Integration Test Suite: Ensure end-to-end CI-test coverage in simulation (MuJoCo / Isaac Sim) and on real hardware.

📌 Required Qualifications

• Strong C++ — modern features (C++17 or newer), real-time safe patterns, and clean memory handling.
• Experience with State Machine Design for complex robotic systems: clear state separation, transition guards, fault handling. Experience with hierarchical state machines (Boost.SML, sc::statechart, BehaviorTree.CPP or similar).
• gRPC and Protobuf: Implementation of API servers, streaming RPCs, and backward-compatible proto development.
• Experience with Robot-Abstraction-Layers from practice — through one of the following ways (no framework is mandatory): ros2_control hardware interfaces (Jazzy or Humble); MoveIt2 hardware connection; OROCOS RTT for Hard-RT Pipelines; Apex.OS on real platform; Vendor SDKs like Franka, UR, KUKA, ABB, etc.; or own internal abstraction layers from previous projects.
• Experience bringing a real robot platform end-to-end to life — not just simulation. Good sense for hardware integration: timing assumptions, sensor calibration, fault scenarios.

⭐ Desirable Experience

• Hands-on experience with more than one of the above abstraction approaches — Multi-Stack experience accelerates your onboarding.
• ROS 2 (Jazzy or Humble) in practice — currently the most common middleware stack at NEURA.
• OROCOS RTT experience, if Hard-RT requirements necessitate it.
• Apex.OS knowledge for the SIL-certified Industrial-MM configuration.
• Cluster-specific depth:
• Mobile Manipulator: Nav2 or similar AMR stack, docking cycles, optional PROFINET
• Legged: Floating-Base State Estimation, Gait Controller Integration, Fall Detection
• Cobot: ISO 10218 / ISO/TS 15066
• Experience with multiple robotic platforms (State-Machine logic implemented for two or more systems).
• FTA or FMEA for State-Machine-Design in robotics.
• gRPC-Gateway or REST/gRPC Bridging for customer-facing APIs.

🎁 Benefits

Competitive salary and benefits package.

🛂 Visa & Eligibility

No visa sponsorship available.