Index Robotics

About Index

Index Robotics is building robots that understand the world through touch. We believe true dexterity begins with touch - and with the intelligence to interpret and act on it. We are co-designing high-fidelity tactile hardware alongside an AI stack that enables our robots to master tasks ranging from manipulating rigid tools to handling deformable, slippery, and irregular objects.

Our founding team brings over a decade of experience building tactile sensors and end-to-end robotic systems across CMU, Stanford, and NYU, and leading industrial research labs including Google DeepMind, Tesla, NVIDIA, Meta, and Microsoft Research. Join us to shape the next generation of force-aware, dexterous, general-purpose robots.

The role

You will build fun hardware all day.

The work is a mix of CAD, rapid prototyping, electromechanical design and integration, and close collaboration with the robotics engineers to get things running smoothly on real robots doing real tasks. 

We iterate constantly. This is less about designing something perfect on the first pass and more about building it, testing it, breaking it, and rebuilding it better by the end of the week.

What you will do

• Design mechanical and electromechanical assemblies in CAD, from end effectors and sensor mounts to fixtures and full workcell hardware
• Prototype fast using 3D printing, machining, and off-the-shelf parts, then get the result onto a robot and under load
• Integrate motors, actuators, sensors, and wiring into assemblies that survive continuous operation
• Work directly with the robotics and ML engineers so the hardware and the control stack are designed against each other, not around each other
• Run the test loop yourself: build, instrument, measure, diagnose, revise
• Take hardware from bench prototype to something that holds up on a customer floor

What we are looking for

You’d be a good fit if you have:

• Degree in mechanical engineering, mechatronics, robotics, or equivalent hands-on experience
• Strong CAD skills (SolidWorks, Onshape, Fusion, or similar) and real design-for-manufacture instincts
• Comfort with the full prototyping stack: 3D printing, basic machining, hand tools, and knowing when to buy instead of build
• Experience integrating electromechanical systems, including actuators, sensing, and wire routing
• A bias toward building. You would rather have three versions tested than one version specified
• Willingness to work on real robots, in the lab, most days

Bonus points:

• You are a sensor nerd. Tactile, force, torque, capacitive, magnetic, optical, whatever pulls you in
• You have built or fabricated your own sensors
• Experience with grippers, compliant mechanisms, or manipulation hardware
• Comfort with Python or C++ for bring-up, data collection, and test rigs
• You have shipped hardware into a production or customer environment

Why join us

We’re hiring people to help build Index Robotics from the ground up. We work with experts, give them real ownership, and expect them to make consequential decisions without layers of process getting in the way.

Because we design both the hardware and the intelligence in-house, you’ll work at the boundary between physical sensing and learning - solving problems that don’t have clean abstractions or software-only fixes. The work is hands-on, messy, and deeply rewarding.

We’re a small, flat team that values clarity, trust, and good judgment. As an early hire, you won’t just be executing someone else’s plan - you’ll help define how we build, how we work together, and what this company becomes. We take the work seriously, but not ourselves. If you want real responsibility, real impact, and a team that’s both ambitious and fun to work with, we’d love to talk.