Senior Actuator Engineer (Hands Team)
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At a glance
Job overview
Rhoda AI is hiring a Senior Actuator Engineer (Hands Team). Rhoda AI is developing generalist intelligent robots, handling complex real‑world tasks with advanced hardware and world‑model infrastructure. The senior actuator engineer will create compact motor‑gearbox units for robotic hands, ensuring dexterity, efficiency, and durability through design, testing, and cross‑disciplinary integration.
Key focus areas include Design compact motor‑gearbox actuator units for hand fingers and wrist from concept through production, Architect miniaturized planetary geartrains meeting torque, backlash, and packaging targets, and Size and select motors based on torque, speed, power‑draw, thermal, and efficiency requirements.
Successful candidates bring Track Record Of Designing And Shipping Gearboxes, Experience Miniaturizing Geartrains, and Strong Command Of Motor Sizing And Selection. Important skills include Design Compact Motor-Gearbox Actuator Units, Architect Miniaturized Geartrains, Planetary Geartrains, Size And Select Motors, Build And Run Bench And Dyno Tests, and Characterize Actuator Performance. Preferred (not required): Gear Design, Tendon- Or Linkage-Driven Finger Actuation, Backdrivability, and Transparency Requirements For Teleoperation.
Skills & qualifications
Skills
Qualifications
Full job description
At Rhoda AI, we’re building the next generation of generalist intelligent robots. We own the full robotics stack from high-performance hardware and robot systems to the infrastructure and state-of-the-art foundation world models that control our robots. Our robots are designed to be generalists capable of operating in complex, real-world environments and handling long-tail edge cases, made possible by our cutting edge research and end-to-end system design. We've raised over $450M and are investing aggressively in model research, infrastructure, hardware development, and manufacturing scale-up to make generalist robotics a reality.
You will design the actuation at the heart of the hand: compact, efficient motor-and-gearbox units that must deliver human-hand dexterity in a human-hand package. Your actuators define what the entire system can do.
What You'll Do
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Design compact motor-gearbox actuator units for the hand's fingers and wrist, from concept through production
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Architect miniaturized geartrains — especially planetary — that hit torque, backlash, and packaging targets at finger scale
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Size and select motors against torque, speed, power-draw, thermal, and efficiency requirements
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Build and run bench and dyno tests to characterize actuator performance, efficiency, and durability
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Partner with the structures engineer on packaging and thermal paths, and with the electrical engineer on drive and sensing integration
What You Bring
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Track record of designing and shipping gearboxes, especially planetary gearboxes
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Experience miniaturizing geartrains for tightly packaged, weight- and volume-constrained applications
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Strong command of motor sizing and selection, including power draw, torque density, and efficiency analysis
Nice to Have
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Gear design experience — tooth profiles, materials, and manufacturing methods
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Experience with tendon- or linkage-driven finger actuation
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Familiarity with backdrivability and transparency requirements for teleoperation
You've read the whole posting — now see how you match it.