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Staff Perception Hardware Engineer

Apptronik· Hardware
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Sunnyvale, CA$240k - $288kPosted 3mo ago

About the role

Staff-level hardware engineering role focused on leading perception hardware integration, validation, and deployment for Apollo’s vision system on a moving humanoid robot. Responsible for end-to-end physical hardware execution, custom sensor modules, ISP tuning, high-speed data links, synchronization, calibration fixtures, and cross-functional leadership to bring perception hardware from prototype to mass production.

Responsibilities

  • End-to-End System Execution: Lead the physical integration of the robot’s visual perception stack. Drive the transition from prototype designs to fully validated, production-ready camera assemblies, ensuring all FOV, thermal, and mechanical stability targets are met on the physical hardware.
  • Custom Module Development & Vendor Execution: When off-the-shelf components fall short, define the electrical, optical, and mechanical specifications for custom sensor modules. Drive external optical vendors and contract manufacturers (CMs) through the build process, ensuring strict adherence to Apptronik’s standards.
  • Custom Bring-Up & Validation Plans: Architect and own the comprehensive bring-up, DVT (Design Verification Testing), and End-of-Line (EOL) test plans for all custom-built sensor modules, ensuring they are rigorously validated before they ever integrate into the humanoid platform.
  • Hands-on ISP Tuning & IQ Validation: Take ownership of the image quality (IQ) on the actual robot. Perform deep, hands-on ISP tuning (auto-exposure, white balance, tone mapping) in real-world environments to ensure the camera data satisfies both the strict requirements of machine learning models and the low-latency needs of human teleoperators.
  • High-Speed Bring-up & Deep Debugging: Lead the electrical bring-up and validation of the multi-gigabit video backbone (e.g., GMSL2/3, FPD-Link). Serve as the ultimate escalation point for complex, system-level EMI/EMC debugging, using high-speed oscilloscopes and analyzers to track down frame drops and signal integrity issues across dynamic robot joints.
  • Synchronization Execution: Implement and rigorously measure the hardware-level synchronization across cameras, LiDAR, and IMUs. Prove out sub-microsecond timing accuracy on the physical robot using oscilloscopes and custom test fixtures to guarantee pristine data for visual-inertial odometry (VIO).
  • Calibration & Fixture Deployment: Design, build, and deploy the physical calibration fixtures and algorithms used to align the optical system. Troubleshoot and resolve complex intrinsic/extrinsic drift issues, ensuring the calibration process scales reliably from the R&D lab to the factory floor.
  • Cross-Functional Adjudication (DfX): Act as the technical adjudicator in the lab between Industrial Design (ID), Mechanical, and Thermal teams. Drive physical testing and prototyping to resolve conflicts between Apollo's iconic A-surface aesthetics, sensor FOV constraints, and thermal dissipation needs.
  • Technical Leadership & Mentorship: Lead complex, cross-functional problem-solving efforts to resolve critical "line-down" or "launch-blocking" hardware bugs. Mentor senior and junior engineers in the lab, establishing a culture of rigorous physical testing and root-cause analysis.

Qualifications

  • Shipped Product Focus: A proven track record of taking complex perception hardware—including custom-defined sensor modules—from the breadboard phase all the way through DVT and into mass production.
  • Vendor Management: Proven experience working directly with optical vendors, CMOS manufacturers, and CMs to define, build, and test custom camera or sensor modules.
  • Hands-On Troubleshooting Mastery: Expert-level proficiency with high-end lab equipment (high-bandwidth oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, TDRs). You have a "sixth sense" for tracking down ground loops, EMI noise, and intermittent signal integrity issues.
  • Deep Optical & Image Physics: Deep practical understanding of CMOS sensor tuning, optical lens artifacts (flare, ghosting, distortion), and how to physically mitigate them within tight mechanical enclosures.
  • System-Level Math & Calibration: Mastery of the linear algebra and 3D geometry underlying multi-camera arrays, stereo baselines, and visual-inertial sensor fusion, with the ability to write scripts (Python/C++) to validate these models on real hardware.
  • Drive Through Influence: Exceptional ability to lead technical initiatives and align cross-functional stakeholders (Software, ID, and ME) without direct reporting authority, using empirical data from the lab to drive decisions.
  • Agility: Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, high-growth environment where "perfect" is the enemy of "shipped," knowing exactly when a design is robust enough for the real world.

Skills

Required:Perception hardware integrationVendor and contract manufacturer coordinationISP tuning and image quality validationHigh-speed signal integrityCalibration & fixture development
Last updated Aug 30, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

About Apptronik

One Platform for the Future of Work

Apptronik designs humanoid robotics platforms with mobility, manipulation, and human-centered interaction to support people in the workplace.

3PLApolloApollo for ManufacturingApollo for RetailApollo for WarehouseBuilt for the Real WorldForm That Fits the WorkGoods-to-Person
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