Engineer– Embodied AI Lab Automation: Vision-Guided Time Robotic Manipulation

Overview

Brookhaven National Laboratory’s National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) is seeking an engineer to develop an automated protein crystal harvesting system at the Center for Bio Molecular Structure (CBMS). This is a 2‑year term position, with the possibility of renewal contingent on performance and funding availability. The successful candidate will develop vision‑guided robotic manipulation capabilities for detecting, tracking, and harvesting fragile micron‑scale protein crystals suspended in liquid droplets.

The role is hands‑on and involves building and deploying closed‑loop perception, visual servoing, and robotic control systems in a real laboratory environment. The candidate will work closely with crystallographers, beamline scientists, controls engineers, mechanical engineers, and data scientists to integrate computer vision, machine learning, and robotic manipulation into an automated crystal harvesting platform.

• Develop and implement vision‑guided real‑time robotic manipulation methods for crystal harvesting.
• Design and deploy closed‑loop perception and control pipelines using visual feedback.
• Contribute to vision‑based servoing approaches for precise, real‑time positioning.
• Integrate perception outputs with motion planning and execution using ROS2 and Move It
  2.
• Perform system calibration (hand‑eye calibration, camera calibration) to ensure accurate 3‑D spatial alignment.
• Evaluate and improve system robustness, including perception uncertainty and failure modes.
• Collaborate closely with domain experts across crystallography, controls, and engineering.
• Participate in system testing, tuning, and performance evaluation.
• Document methods and results; contribute to reports, publications, and presentations.

• B.S. in Robotics, Computer Science, Physics, Applied Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing robotics systems.
• Strong programming skills in Python and/or C++.
• Knowledge of robotic systems: robot kinematics, coordinate transformations, motion planning, trajectory generation, calibration methods.

• M.S. in a related field.
• Experience with vision‑guided control in real‑world settings.
• Experience with ROS2 ecosystems.
• Experience with camera calibration, hand‑eye calibration, and coordinate frame registration.
• Experience integrating machine learning models into robotics.
• Familiarity with micro‑manipulation, sensor fusion or state estimation, real‑time system debugging and performance tuning.

• Development of a system capable of reliably detecting and localizing protein crystals.
• Implementation of closed‑loop robotic manipulation using visual feedback.
• Improved robustness and reliability of the crystal harvesting process under real‑world conditions.

Candidates should submit a brief cover letter and resume or CV.

Brookhaven National Laboratory is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment. We provide reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities.

Salary range: $71,900–$119,000 per year. Position is located at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York. Additional benefits are available through the laboratory’s comprehensive benefits program.