Controls Engineer Intern

About the role#

Foundation is developing dexterous hands and fingers for an all-purpose humanoid. These systems feature over 20 degrees of freedom within the volume of a human hand, requiring high precision, speed, and adaptability. As a Controls Engineer Intern, you will focus on the control loops necessary for joint and finger-level movement. You will own real subsystems, write firmware for hardware, and contribute directly to technical milestones. This role is designed to provide experience in solving complex robotics problems, including impedance control, contact detection, tendon coupling, and real-time sensor fusion.

What you'll do#

• Develop and tune control loops for high-degree-of-freedom robotic hands.
• Implement and test firmware that runs directly on robotic hardware.
• Address challenges in impedance control, contact detection, and sensor fusion.
• Use Python to simulate, prototype, and analyze controller performance before hardware deployment.
• Collaborate with the team on the development of a capable humanoid hand.

What you'll need#

• Currently pursuing a BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or a related field.
• Coursework in control systems theory, including state-space representation, Bode/Nyquist analysis, stability margins, and PID design.
• Foundational understanding of dynamics and kinematics for multi-body systems, including the application of Jacobians.
• Exposure to modern control techniques such as state feedback, LQR, feedforward compensation, or impedance/admittance control.
• Understanding of sampled-data systems, discrete-time control, sample rates, and aliasing.
• Proficiency in Python for simulation and data analysis.
• Working knowledge of C or C++ for embedded firmware, including experience with microcontrollers like STM32, Teensy, or ESP32.
• Familiarity with robotics frameworks, specifically ROS2, for node development and system debugging.
• Experience with MATLAB/Simulink is considered a plus.

Location & details#

• Location: San Francisco, California
• Term: Summer 2026
• Modality: On-site, full-time
• Compensation: Paid internship