Simulation Engineer/ Robotics Engineer

Position: Simulation Engineer/ Robotics Engineer

Location: Boston MA 02210

Duration: 7 Months

Job Type: Temporary Assignment

Work Type: Onsite

Payrate:$ 108.00 - 108.00/hr.

Overview:

TekWissen is a global workforce management provider headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan that offers strategic talent solutions to our clients world-wide. Our client is a global technology leader that is transforming the way people shop, consume content, and interact with digital services. With a strong presence across e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence, the company is known for its customer-centric approach, innovation-driven culture, and large-scale global impact. It continues to invest in building products and services that improve everyday life while supporting businesses, communities, and economies worldwide.

Job Description:

• You'll create, import, and maintain high-fidelity 3D models of robotic workcells, converting CAD designs into simulation-ready assets that enable robot motion planning, controls development, and system validation before physical hardware exists.

Purpose of the Team and key projects:

• Import a new robot prototype station from SolidWorks CAD into the simulator with accurate arm kinematics, rail geometry, sensor placement, and tote collision models
• Tune simulation assets to balance detail vs execution speed of simulation
• Convert OBJ collision meshes to VTK tetrahedral format to improve physics contact accuracy for robotic manipulation
• Build a model validation script that checks inertia values, texture transparency, and mesh integrity at build time

Task Breakdown and Workflow:

• 3D Asset Pipeline: Convert SolidWorks/CAD assemblies into simulation-ready formats (SDF, URDF, glTF, VTK) with accurate kinematics, collision geometry, inertia properties, and visual materials (PBR)
• Station Configuration: Build and maintain robotic workcell configurations including robot arms, rails, sensors, end-effectors, pods, conveyors, and environmental structures
• Collision Modeling: Create and optimize collision meshes using tetrahedral meshing workflows (RoLoPoly, TetGen, Drake mesh refiner) for accurate physics contact simulation
• Sensor Setup : Configure simulated cameras, depth sensors, and other perception hardware with accurate field-of-view parameters
• Validation : Build model integrity tests, verify FK/IK accuracy against real hardware, and maintain asset quality standards (mass, inertia, texture transparency, mesh integrity)
• Customer Delivery: Independently manage asset import/update requests from robotics program teams, meeting SLA timelines for new station deliveries

What makes this role interesting:

• This role sits at the intersection of 3D content creation and robotics engineering.
• You’ll work directly with mechanical engineers, controls teams, and simulation developers to translate hardware designs into accurate digital twins.
• You’ll operate with the autonomy and ownership expected of an L5 individual contributor.
• Independently driving asset delivery end-to-end, making technical trade-offs, and influencing modeling standards across the team.

Leadership Principles:

• Ownership
• Dive deep

Required Skills:

• 5+ years professional SW development experience.
• 1+ year working with 3D modeling tools (Blender, SolidWorks, Maya, or equivalent)
• Experience with robotics simulation formats: URDF, SDF, MJCF, or similar
• Familiarity with mesh processing: decimation, convex decomposition, tetrahedral meshing, collision geometry generation
• Understanding of rigid body kinematics (joint types, coordinate frames, forward/inverse kinematics)
• Proficiency in Python for scripting asset pipelines and automation
• 1+ year cumulative experience with at least one of: game engines (Unreal, Unity), physics engines (Drake, MuJoCo, Bullet, PhysX), or robotics simulation platforms (Gazebo, Isaac Sim)
• Demonstrated ability to independently own and deliver technical work with minimal oversight

Nice to haves:

• Experience with USD (Universal Scene Description) model format
• Familiarity with PBR materials, glTF format, and real-time rendering pipelines
• C++ experience (our simulator core is C++)
• Web 3D visualization (Three.js, WebGL)
• Understanding of simulation contact models and deformable body simulation
• Experience converting CAD (SolidWorks, STEP, IGES) to simulation-ready assets
• Familiarity with camera simulation (intrinsics, distortion models, synthetic data generation)

Must Have Hard Skills:

• SW development experience
• 1+ year working with 3D modeling tools (Blender, SolidWorks, Maya, or equivalent)
• Experience with robotics simulation formats: URDF, SDF, MJCF, or similar
• Familiarity with mesh processing: decimation, convex decomposition, tetrahedral meshing, collision geometry generation
• 1+ year cumulative experience with at least one of: game engines (Unreal, Unity), physics engines (Drake, MuJoCo, Bullet, PhysX), or robotics simulation platforms (Gazebo, Isaac Sim)

TekWissen® Group is an equal opportunity employer supporting workforce diversity.