Software Systems Engineer, Motor Controls

Company Overview

Imagine a piloted air taxi that takes off vertically, then quietly carries you and your fellow passengers over the congested city streets below, enabling you to spend more time with the people and places that matter most. At Joby, we've been working to make that dream a reality since 2009 and we're now in the final stages of certifying our aircraft with the FAA. With plans to launch our aircraft in the US and Dubai, we're now scaling manufacturing and preparing for the launch of our commercial service.

Overview

This engineer will play a key role in a small, fast-moving team and participate in architecture, design, and implementation of motor control systems within our electric-powered, fly-by-wire aircraft. This engineer will work closely with the hardware, mechanical, integration, and flight-testing teams to design, develop, test and improve system-level behaviors.

Responsibilities

• Sensored and sensorless control of permanent magnet synchronous motors
• Advanced inverter pulse-width modulation, position and velocity estimation, current control and efficiency optimization
• Develop fault detection, isolation, and reconfiguration logic for safety critical systems
• Closed loop position control of simplex and duplex redundant servo actuation systems with redundant position sensors and multi-phase motors controlled from separate inverters
• Optimization of motor controls using MATLAB Simulink 
• Develop wrappers and interfaces for the MATLAB Simulink code in C/C++
• Ensure inverter and motor systems meet performance requirements via controls algorithm development, implementation, Simulink simulation and hardware testing
• Oversee dynamometer testing and interpretation of data for controls development, validation and improvement
• Tuning and calibration of complete systems on dynamometers, on test stands, and on the aircraft
• Unit-tests for build environment, sub-system validation testing, integration testing, flight testing, processor/hardware in the loop testing
• Decompose system level requirements to software requirements 
• Develop system level actuator models and integrate with inverters and servo controls for wholistic system level understanding of performance

Required

• B.S degree in Mechanical Engineering or relevant field and 2+ years of related technical experience (including mechanical, electrical, computer and robotics / mechatronics engineering)
• Experience with actuation systems and/or servo control on safety critical applications
• Experience developing embedded applications in C/C++, MATLAB Simulink model-based design for controls development
• Experience with basic electronics debugging tools: oscilloscope, logic analyzer, power analyzer
• Basic understanding of version control technologies
• Ability to be onsite regularly in San Carlos, CA

Desired

• Advanced degree in Mechanical Engineering or relevant field
• Technical experience with aerospace actuation and controls system development
• Experience with processor/hardware in the loop (PIL/HIL) verification/debugging
• Knowledge of control system design and principles of feedback control including PID control and advanced control techniques and their applications in the servo systems
• Experience creating mathematical models of servo systems for system identification, analyses and simulations
• Knowledge of electro-mechanical systems focusing on interactions between electrical and mechanical components in servo systems
• Knowledge of real time bare-metal firmware development
• Experience with hard, real-time interrupt-driven software development

Additional Information

Compensation at Joby is a combination of base pay and Restricted Stock Units (RSUs). The target base pay for this position is $109,200 - $150,100/yr. The compensation package will be determined by job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

Joby also offers a comprehensive benefits package, including paid time off, healthcare benefits, a 401(k) plan with a company match, an employee stock purchase plan (ESPP), short-term and long-term disability coverage, life insurance, and more.

 

Joby is an Equal Opportunity Employer.