- Robot type
- Industrial Automation
- Location
- Palo AltoCaliforniaUSA
- Job type
- Hardware
- Posted
- May 18, 2026
Full-time
Mechanical Design Engineer, Tactile Sensing
Job description
Mind Robotics is building Physical AI for real-world industrial deployment, starting with the factory floor. We believe the hardest problems in AI are solved when researchers and engineers are hands-on with the physical world every day - and we're looking for people who are passionate about robotics, value ownership, and are excited to tackle difficult problems. Join us if you want to move beyond digital intelligence and put intelligence into motion.
Job 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.
Job requirements
- 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.