Job Description

Role Snapshot

You’ll join the Space Division in Pisa, Italy to build full‑system control for dexterous robotic manipulators used in In‑Orbit Servicing & Assembly and Debris Removal. You’ll turn proprietary Fluid Wire actuators into reliable, flight‑ready subsystems through modeling, control, and rigorous experimentation. You’ll work across simulation, hardware, and integration so controllers perform on floating base platforms under uncertainty. Remote work is possible, aligned to hands‑on experimental schedules.

Key Responsibilities

• Characterize next‑gen actuators and build high‑fidelity models capturing compliance, friction, backlash, and fluid dynamics for simulation‑ready use
• Design and validate joint‑level controllers for position, velocity, and force or impedance with flexible transmissions, ensuring robust simulation‑to‑hardware transfer
• Architect system‑level control for complete arms on floating base platforms, including hierarchical control, supervisory logic, fault handling, and safety
• Implement real‑time teleoperation with latency compensation and optional haptic feedback, delivering reliable human‑in‑the‑loop control under variable networks
• Plan and run experiments end to end, from sensor calibration and DAQ to custom test rigs, extracting insights that drive design decisions and iteration speed
• Collaborate with mechanical and electronics teams on interfaces and sensor choices, contribute to system integration, and support mentoring of junior engineers

What You Bring

Technical Toolkit

• Control theory, robotics kinematics and dynamics, system identification, signal processing
• MATLAB, Simulink, multibody simulation tools
• ROS2, C/C++, Python
• Electric actuators, compliant or cable drives, series elastic elements, sensors, DAQ
• Ethernet, EtherCAT, CAN or CANopen, UDP or TCP, real‑time control, haptics

Professional Experience

• Deliver end‑to‑end control solutions from modeling to hardware validation for complex manipulators
• Design rigorous identification experiments, calibrate sensors, and build or adapt test rigs for precise measurements
• Implement hierarchical control and safety for floating base or underactuated systems in unstructured environments
• Partner effectively across disciplines, document clearly, and support interns or junior engineers

Nice‑to‑have

• Space robotics operations, ground segment interfaces, vacuum or radiation test exposure
• Teleoperation systems with latency management and haptic devices
• Modeling and control of variable impedance hardware and cable or series elastic transmissions