Sr. Software Engineer – Real-time Controls

Apptronik Apptronik · Robotics · HQ · Software Engineering

Senior Software Engineer focused on real-time controls for human-centered, AI-powered robots (Apollo humanoid robot). Responsibilities include developing production-grade C++ software infrastructure, integrating low-level firmware with high-level controls, implementing state estimation and diagnostics, characterizing robot performance, and integrating learned policies into the real-time stack. Requires strong C++, robotics fundamentals, and experience with ROS2 and simulation/HIL testing.

What you'd actually do

  1. Deliver production-grade real-time C++ software infrastructure
  2. Integrate low-level firmware data with high-level controls logic over real-time task graphs
  3. Implement and tune state estimation (IMU, kinematic, odometry fusion) and diagnostic monitors that map sensor faults to DTCs
  4. Characterize and improve the quality of robot kinematics, estimation, and actuation
  5. Integrate learned policies (RL locomotion / motion imitation) into the real-time controls stack

Skills

Required

  • modern C++
  • OOP skills
  • multi-threading
  • Linux application development
  • robotics fundamentals (kinematics, dynamics, controls, estimation, and system identification)
  • rigid-body motion and frame transformations
  • CMake + colcon ROS2 workspaces
  • hardware-in-the-loop or simulation-based testing of control software
  • software testing methodologies
  • version control (e.g., Git)
  • communication skills
  • Agile processes (sprint planning, design/code reviews)

Nice to have

  • hands-on experience with floating-base dynamics, contact/constraint modeling, or sensor fusion
  • MuJoCo
  • Drake
  • Eigen
  • ROS2
  • Flatbuffers
  • BehaviorTree.CPP

What the JD emphasized

  • real-time control
  • learned policies (RL locomotion / motion imitation)

Other signals

  • human-centered robotics
  • AI-powered robots
  • embodied AI
  • real-time control
  • learned policies (RL locomotion / motion imitation)