Robotics Software Engineer

AMERICAN DROID, LLC Robotics Software Engineer New Bern, NC Full time Company website Apply for Robotics Software Engineer

American Droid is building a new generation of American-made robotic systems for defense and civilian applications. We are at the very beginning of our growth curve—and we are looking for builders. This is an opportunity to join the ground floor of a start-up creating robotic hands and tele-operated manipulation systems. As one of the first software engineers on the team, you won’t just write code—you will shape the product, architect the software, define engineering culture, and help create technologies that will become the backbone of our Phase III deployments and future product lines.

Your work will enable high-precision robotic manipulation and haptic teleoperation for public service and military applications. There is no hand-holding here. You will be forging the path, defining new capabilities, shaping products, and building technologies that will become the foundation of future deployments and partner integrations. If you want to build something that matters, influence major design decisions, and leave your fingerprints on the foundation of an emerging robotics company, this is that role.

Our mission is building American-made robotic solutions, subsystems, and components for U.S. public service, Veteran healthcare, and military use. We focus on high-demand, niche applications often overlooked by commercial industry, creating systems that perform in real-world conditions and directly support America’s public service operators. From our home base in New Bern, North Carolina, we serve public sector customers and partners across the United States.

We’re proud to be part of a community shaped by military service, rural industry, and a strong work ethic—and we bring that spirit into every project.

Summary

You will design and implement the foundational ROS 2/C++ control software for our robotic hand. This includes joint control nodes, hardware interfaces, diagnostics, and system-level monitoring. You will enable high-level commands such as joint positioning, sensor queries, soft limits, and safe transitions. Your work will serve as the backbone for future SDK development and integration with partner robotic platforms.

Responsibilities

• Design, own, and drive the ROS 2 control stack for the robotic hand from the ground up.
• Build hardware interface layers that connect embedded firmware to ROS 2 controllers.
• Develop joint-level controllers (position, velocity, force) for multi-DOF synchronized motion.
• Define motion constraints, safety states, error recovery logic, and soft limits.
• Architect clean APIs and messaging interfaces that will evolve into a public-facing SDK.
• Implement real-time health monitoring, motor/thermal diagnostics, and system-level analytics.
• Build simulation and testing frameworks to validate behavior before hardware integration.
• Collaborate closely with firmware and mechanical teams, solving problems together in real time.
• Make foundational technical decisions that will influence the next 5-10 years of the platform.

Summary

You will integrate haptic gloves into the robotic hand’s control stack to enable natural, intuitive teleoperation. You will map glove kinematics into robotic joint commands, tune algorithms for precision manipulation, and implement low-latency feedback pathways.

Responsibilities

• Integrate haptic gloves using the C++ API for bidirectional motion + haptics.
• Develop mapping algorithms that translate human hand motion into robotic actuation.
• Implement low-latency tactile feedback pathways from hand sensors to glove actuators.
• Validate and refine teleoperation behaviors in simulation before hardware testing.
• Support demo systems for program milestones, partners, and field testing.

Summary

This role is a technical pathfinder. You will set the tone, practice, and technological direction. You will mentor engineers as we grow the team and help shape a culture rooted in innovation and mission-driven engineering.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical direction in ROS…