Engineer, Mechatronics

Tactus AI is building the first humanoid mobile manipulators purpose-built for clinical and life sciences laboratories. Our robots don't just move samples between instruments - they stain slides, check microbiology plates, load tissue processors, and perform the hands-on work that keeps labs running. Paired with CORTEX, our intelligent lab orchestration platform, they turn fragmented manual workflows into continuous, traceable automation.

Scientists are doing critical work, and patients are counting on them. We're a team of scientists, engineers, and operators in San Diego who believe labs deserve better. We move with the speed and focus that mission demands. We build with modern tools - LLMs and generative AI are part of our daily workflow. We're shipping robots into real partner labs, backed by partnerships with leading diagnostics and life sciences organizations.

We're a small team building a bimanual mobile manipulator that works in real clinical labs. Everyone contributes across boundaries - mechanical, electrical, controls, software - and we're looking for engineers who thrive in that kind of environment.

Our semi-humanoid wheeled platform has dual arms, cameras, tactile sensors, and dexterous hands. It navigates lab environments, manipulates instruments and consumables, and executes autonomous workflows. We built our own software stack from the ground up, no off-the-shelf middleware.

This is a dynamic role where you might design a new piece of end-of-arm tooling with the mechanical team, then iterate on the software/hardware interface for our tactile sensing system, then help get a new robot skill working for the first time. The common thread is: get it working, measure it, iterate, and drive toward something scalable.

We're hiring across experience levels. Whether you're a few years out of a robotics program and ready to take on meaningful subsystem work, or you've shipped multiple electromechanical products, there's a role here.

Potential projects could include:

• Work across robot subsystems — arms, hands, base, sensors, actuators, end-of-arm tooling

• Develop and tune control algorithms — motion planning, trajectory execution, force control, collision avoidance

• Integrate electrical and mechanical systems — motor controllers, power distribution, cable harnesses, thermal management

• Work on autonomous navigation — path planning, obstacle avoidance, docking in constrained lab environments

• Integrate perception systems — cameras, depth sensing, tactile feedback, object detection for manipulation

• Build and validate robot skills — get things working for the first time, then measure and iterate toward reliability

• Work across our custom software stack — real-time device control and event-driven platform services

• Collaborate with applications scientists to ensure robot capabilities meet real laboratory requirements

• Strong foundation in robotics, mechatronics, or electromechanical systems — you understand how mechanical, electrical, and software systems interact

• Our stack runs on Rust, Python, and Next.js — but we care more about problem-solving and iteration speed than depth in any single language. We use LLMs and AI-assisted development daily to move fast across all of them.

• Hands-on with physical hardware — you've built, wired, and debugged real systems, not just simulated them

• Experience with manipulation, controls, or real-time systems in a robotics context

• Comfortable moving between disciplines — you don't wait for someone else to figure out the boundary between mechanical, electrical, and software

• 5+ years shipping electromechanical or robotic products

• Motor control and power electronics

• Mechanical design and prototyping — CAD, 3D printing, DFM

• Sensor integration — cameras, IMUs, force/torque sensors, tactile arrays

• Experience in regulated environments (medical devices, aerospace, automotive)

• Track record of driving technical direction on a robot platform or subsystem

• Build what matters. We're putting robots into real labs that process real patient samples. If it doesn't make the lab better, we don't build it.

• Cross-disciplinary work. You won't be siloed. You'll work across mechanical, electrical, and software on a system that has to work in the real world.

• Modern tools, fast iteration. We use LLMs and AI-assisted development daily. Iteration speed and persistence toward targets matter more than perfection in any single language.

• San Diego. World-class robotics ecosystem. Sun, surf, and serious engineering.

Tactus AI builds intelligent robotics to accelerate scientific discovery and improve global healthcare. We are an equal opportunity employer.