Staff Firmware Engineer

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 $400M and are investing aggressively in model research, infrastructure, hardware development, and manufacturing scale-up to make generalist robotics a reality. You will own the development of Rhoda's low-level firmware stack for distributed real-time control across humanoid platforms. This role centers on deterministic communication, control-loop synchronization, and embedded software robustness in an EtherCAT environment spanning dozens of joints, sensors, and distributed controllers. You will design, implement, and validate firmware components that guarantee sub-millisecond coordination between motor drivers, safety controllers, and perception nodes — bridging the mechanical, electrical, and control domains. This role is a Senior MTS reporting directly to the VP of Hardware Engineering, with a clear path to grow into a managerial role as the firmware and controls team scales. What You'll Do - Select and tune RTOS; define priorities and scheduling; optimize interrupt and DMA paths; harden watchdogs and recovery; measure and guard timing budgets - Design, implement, and maintain low-level firmware for real-time motion control nodes over EtherCAT - Develop synchronization and communication layers ensuring deterministic cycle times (<1ms) - Configure and optimize EtherCAT masters and slaves (distributed clocks, mailbox protocols, PDO mapping) - Implement real-time safety mechanisms (Safe Torque Off, watchdogs, and heartbeat monitoring) - Collaborate with Electronics, Controls, and Systems teams to define timing budgets and data interfaces - Contribute to the architecture of the hardware abstraction layer (HAL) and firmware APIs for actuator control - Develop unit, HIL, and integration tests for firmware validation - Profile and optimize ISR and DMA paths to minimize latency and jitter - Support bring-up and debugging of custom actuator controllers and sensor boards - Document firmware architecture, test results, and safety compliance evidence for design reviews What We're Looking For - Bachelor's or higher in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or Robotics - 8+ years of experience in embedded firmware development for real-time control systems - Strong expertise with EtherCAT protocol stack implementation and configuration (SOEM, Acontis, or similar) - Deep understanding of MCU architectures (ARM Cortex-M, RISC-V, or DSPs) and RTOS environments (FreeRTOS, Zephyr, or equivalent) - Proficiency in C/C++ and experience with low-level debugging (JTAG, logic analyzers, oscilloscopes) - Knowledge of motor control loops (current/velocity/position), FOC, and synchronization with external clocks - Familiarity with SPI, I²C, UART, PWM, ADC, and sensor interface design - Demonstrated ability to write reliable, well-structured, and maintainable embedded code in safety-critical environments - Evidence of shipping real-time-critical products Nice to Have (But Not Required) - Experience developing firmware for humanoid or collaborative robots with distributed actuation - Familiarity with Safety-over-EtherCAT (FSoE) and functional safety standards (IEC 61508, ISO 13849) - Experience with FPGA-based EtherCAT co-processors and network timing synchronization (PTP, TSN) - Knowledge of hardware design constraints (signal integrity, EMC, power distribution) - Safety-related firmware and fieldbus timing experience; DDS experience; formal methods or static analysis exposure - Contributions to open-source EtherCAT or real-time frameworks Why This Role - Own the firmware layer