Robotics Engineer, Hardware Integrations
Listing checked September 4, 2026 · pay as published by Micro1
Overview
This position sits on the Robotics Lab team in San Francisco, on-site, with regular hands-on work across humanoid robots, manipulators, mobile bases, and custom end effectors. You'll be the bridge between hardware and the software stack, building ROS 2 integrations that keep everything from sensors to controllers talking the same language. Your projects include building multimodal data pipelines from cameras, IMUs, force/torque sensors, and joint encoders, plus real-time video streaming pipelines using WebRTC, RTSP, FFmpeg, GStreamer, and HLS. Researchers will look to you to make teleoperation feel responsive and observable, so they can test new ideas without wrestling with the machine. It's an experimental lab, which means you'll change direction often and solve integration issues as they crop up.
What You'll Do9
- 1Set up and maintain the robot lab's platforms, including humanoids, manipulator arms, mobile robots, and custom end effectors.
- 2Own the integration layer between those platforms and the control stack, building on ROS 2, vendor SDKs, and custom interfaces.
- 3Design data pipelines that synchronize and record RGB, depth, IMU, force/torque, and joint telemetry into ROS Bag, HDF5, Parquet, and MP4.
- 4Build teleoperation interfaces that keep control latency low, give operators clear observability, and feel natural to drive.
- 5Develop and tune real-time video streaming paths with WebRTC, RTSP, FFmpeg, GStreamer, and HLS for live camera feeds.
- 6Calibrate and synchronize perception hardware such as Intel RealSense, Luxonis OAK-D, ZED, FLIR, GigE, and USB cameras.
- 7Diagnose failures across hardware, network, and system layers in the lab and for remote deployments, then fix them to keep the fleet running.
- 8Improve the developer workflow with better tooling, automation, and documentation so researchers spend less time debugging setup.
- 9Work directly with researchers and engineers to prototype, test, and iterate on new robotic capabilities.
Requirements9
- 1Strong command of Python and C++, plus working familiarity with C#.
- 2Hands-on experience with ROS 2, Ubuntu/Linux, Docker, Git, and shell scripting.
- 3Proven ability to integrate robotic hardware through vendor SDKs and low-level APIs.
- 4Solid grasp of networking topics: TCP/IP, SSH, VPNs, REST/gRPC, and WebSockets.
- 5History of building teleoperation systems and real-time video streaming infrastructure.
- 6Experience calibrating and synchronizing multimodal sensors, including RGB, depth, stereo, and IMU.
- 7Familiarity with large robotics datasets stored on AWS S3 or Cloudflare R2.
- 8Strong debugging skills spanning hardware, software, networking, and embedded systems.
- 9Comfortable with evolving priorities in an experimental research environment.
Who Should Apply
The ideal candidate has shipped or maintained real robotic systems, not just simulated ones. You handle the uncertainty that comes with physical hardware and can debug a sensor that works one hour and drops the next. If you prefer staying in simulation or focus purely on high-level autonomy, this integration-heavy role will frustrate you. Candidates often lose the slot when they ace ROS 2 and perception questions but can't show they have wired up actual robots or debugged live network and hardware issues. Bring concrete examples from bring-up, teleoperation, or data pipeline work, and you will stand out.
Salary Insight
The full-time role pays a base salary between $140,000 and $240,000, according to the job description, plus equity, performance bonuses, and benefits like up to 100% health premium reimbursement, PTO, and a 401(k) match. The hourly compensation label seen in some job feeds ($7-$8/hr) does not reflect this full-time salary range and looks like a data artifact. Recruiters cover specific numbers during the hiring process.
Pay and demand for Hardware & Embedded Systems roles
AggregatedTypical pay
$75/hour
This role
$7–$8/hr
Most Hardware & Embedded Systems roles pay $55–$100 per hour. This role's pay sits below that range.
Based on 196 similar roles that publish pay · 21 publish only a top rate; those count at the rate they gave
Rates shown per hour. Yearly and monthly pay converted; one-time fees and non-USD pay are not included.
- Live similar roles
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- Listed in last 30 days
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- Remote
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Hiring most right now: micro1 (107) · Mercor (35) · Turing (22)
Most requested skills · share of roles
- python26%
- Typescript14%
- JAVA13%
- technical writing10%
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Compensation
$7–8/hr
Required Skills
Application Tip
Your application is stronger if you attach a hardware integration portfolio note that lists 3-4 real projects. For each, name the robot platform, the sensors, the ROS 2 packages you used, the video streaming or teleoperation stack, and one tricky integration issue you solved. That gives the screener a direct map from their needs to your history, which is the fastest way to demonstrate you're their kind of robotics engineer.
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