Senior Controls Engineer

Kokasa is a deep-tech company building the critical systems and autonomous technologies that will power the next generation of defence, aerospace, space and other high-performance platforms.
Our vision is to build Collaborative Autonomous Systems, where multiple autonomous and semi-autonomous platforms, sensors and effectors operate together through a common software architecture to achieve a shared mission objective. We are building toward this vision from the deep physical-system engineering layer upward with a common software architecture across platforms. Kokasa today designs and develops mission-critical electromechanical and electrohydraulic systems spanning actuation, motion control, sensing, instrumentation and embedded control. We develop and integrate the core technologies within these systems, giving us deep ownership of how advanced platforms sense, move and act.
Role Summary:
A hands-on engineering role owning the control loops across Kokasa's stabilisation systems, electro-mechanical and electro-hydraulic actuators, and UAV platforms. You will work across the full sensor-to-actuator chain (sensor → estimator → controller → actuator), taking each loop from plant model to tuned hardware.
Loops are closed and validated on real hardware against real disturbances: on the bench, on the vibration table, and in field or flight trials, not in simulation alone. You will own the control architecture and algorithms, and work closely with the Electrical, Firmware, Mechanical and Flight Test teams to deliver performance to specification.
Responsibilities:
Across all platforms
Own the cascaded control architecture (current/torque → velocity → position), with feedforward compensation for disturbance rejection
Build plant models and identify them on hardware (frequency response, loop gain and phase margins), then design and tune controllers against bandwidth, tracking and jitter specifications
Design estimators that fuse gyro/IMU, resolver/encoder and other sensor data (complementary or Kalman filtering)
Handle real-hardware effects: structural resonance (notch filtering), friction, backlash and saturation
Work with the Firmware team to implement, verify and debug control code on the target microcontroller or DSP
Set up test benches (vibration table, HIL/SIL) and write test procedures and reports for customer and qualification reviews
Stabilisation systems (gimbals, turrets, gun and weapon stations)
Design and close line-of-sight and weapon stabilisation loops end-to-end against real vibration and base-motion inputs
Tune and validate to programme specifications, typically mrad-level for gun and turret systems and sub-mrad for EO payloads
Actuators (electro-mechanical and electro-hydraulic)
Design position, velocity and force control loops for Kokasa's EMA and electro-hydraulic actuation products
Work with the Electrical team on BLDC/PMSM FOC current-loop tuning and resolver/encoder feedback chains
UAV platforms
Design and tune attitude, rate and position control loops for multirotor, fixed-wing or VTOL platforms, on PX4/ArduPilot or custom flight controllers
Integrate and tune control-surface actuators and stabilised gimbal payloads on UAVs
Support flight testing, log analysis and iterative tuning
Required Qualifications:
4–8 years of relevant, hands-on experience in control systems
Must have
Has worked on precision electromechanical actuators (rotary or linear: BLDC/PMSM motor, gearbox, ballscrew or harmonic drive, position feedback) and built their control systems, taking at least one actuator from first bring-up to a tested unit alongside the mechanical and electrical teams
Has physically closed an actuator, motion-control or stabilisation loop on hardware, and can quote real numbers (bandwidth in Hz, position accuracy, tracking error or residual jitter) from a project they owned
Understands how actuator characteristics (torque/force, speed, stiffness, backlash, inertia and duty cycle) limit control performance, and has verified actuator performance through load and endurance testing
Cascaded PID with feedforward, tuned on real hardware under load, vibration or disturbance
Plant modelling, system identification and frequency-response measurement; MATLAB/Simulink or equivalent
Working knowledge of BLDC/PMSM FOC and resolver/encoder feedback, including RDCs (AD2S1210 or equivalent), enough to tune the current loop and debug the feedback chain
Working C/C++ to implement and debug control code on microcontrollers (TI C2000, STM32 or equivalent)
Good to have
Control of electromechanical actuators for aerospace or defence (flight-control, engine or weapon-system actuators), including fault detection, jam and overload protection, and redundancy
Gimbal, turret, RCWS or gun stabilisation experience
Gyro/IMU-based estimation with complementary or Kalman filtering
UAV flight control: PX4/ArduPilot tuning, multirotor, fixed-wing or VTOL, flight-test experience
Electro-hydraulic servo control (servo valves, EHA or boosters)
Structural resonance and notch filtering; friction and backlash compensation on geared drives
HIL/SIL test bench development
Exposure to MIL-spec or defence qualification environments (e.g. MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-461)
Send your CV to tamanna.yadav@kokasa.in with the subject line "Senior Controls Engineer". In your cover note, briefly describe one control loop you closed on hardware and the performance numbers you achieved.

Work arrangement
No