Sorting Robotics
Designs and manufactures cannabis-automation robotics systems
Mechatronics Engineer Lead
+ 0.2% equity
On-site in Van Nuys or Los Angeles; relocation package available. Travel to customer sites is required.
About the job
- A bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Robotics, or a similar field is required.
- At least 10 years of full-time professional experience is required.
- Experience taking a robotic system from concept to delivery on an R&D team is required.
- Experience with manipulation and gripping, including end-effector or gripper design, grasping, pick-and-place, or assembly automation, is required.
- Experience integrating 6DOF or similar collaborative robot arms, including low-level programming and motion control, is required.
- Strong Python skills and working knowledge of real-time or embedded control are required.
- Proficiency with CAD, 3D printing, laser cutting, CNC machining, and PCB prototyping is required.
- Technical depth in robotics, automation, or a related field and experience shipping systems from concept to delivery are required.
- Strong understanding of artificial intelligence tools and an AI-native engineering approach are required.
- Candidates must not currently be enrolled in a college or graduate program.
- Candidates must be free to work without visa sponsorship.
- Candidates must work on-site in Van Nuys or Los Angeles, with a reliable commute or willingness to relocate.
- Candidates must be able to work extended hours and weekends as needed.
- Own the VLA gripping and assembly system from concept, design, build, and bring-up through deployment and field reliability.
- Design the gripper and mechatronics, including end-effectors, actuation, GD&T drawings, mass, cost, manufacturability tradeoffs, rapid prototyping, and production-ready designs.
- Integrate cameras, vision, force, torque, and tactile sensing into the manipulation loop with a 6DOF arm.
- Operationalize VLA and learned manipulation policies by establishing teleoperation and demonstration-data pipelines, integrating policy inference into real-time control, evaluating grasp and assembly success, and iterating between simulation and real hardware.
- Optimize designs through analytical and physical simulation and validate them on hardware.
- Interface with suppliers and build supply-chain and vendor-qualification processes for manufacturing feasibility, validation, and assigned commodities.
- Support system deployment by helping assemble and install systems at customer sites.
- Support other flagship products as a support or Responsible Engineer.
- A master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Robotics, or a similar field is a plus.
- Familiarity with ROS or ROS 2, OpenVLA or similar learned manipulation policies, RT-style models, imitation learning, and sim-to-real techniques.
- Hands-on experience with manipulation, grasping, or learned policies such as VLA, imitation learning, or ROS.
About the company
Sorting Robotics designs and sells robotic hardware and software to cannabis brands, growers, and co-packers to automate production tasks. Its systems use computer vision and AI to automate infusion, filling, and coating, improving dosing accuracy and throughput (for example, Jiko handles 800–1,000 pre-rolls per hour). Key products include Jiko (pre-roll infusion), Jiko+ (high-viscosity concentrates), Omni (vape-cartridge filling), and Stardust (pre-roll coating). The company differentiates itself with a vertically integrated robotics stack tailored to the cannabis value chain and support from YC experience and venture funding, aiming to raise efficiency and lower operating costs for North American cannabis producers.
Company Size
11-50
Company Stage
Debt Financing
Total Funding
$2.1M
Headquarters
Los Angeles, California
Founded
2018
Get referred to Sorting Robotics
See people who can refer or advise you
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- MJBizCon 2025 featured live Jiko, Stardust, and OMNI demos, strengthening pipeline.
- Sacra reported about 30 Stardust machines sold and 2026 revenue around $2.7 million.
- The 2026 website touts 1,600 coated joints hourly and real-time analytics, expanding upsell potential.
What critics are saying
- STM Canna and Accelerant Manufacturing attack Sorting Robotics with cheaper, line-level automation.
- Cannabis equipment demand depends on operators' capital budgets; delayed purchases hit 2026-2027 sales.
- Federal cannabis reform failure keeps market fragmentation high; one compliance shock can freeze customers.
What makes Sorting Robotics unique
- Sorting Robotics sells cannabis-specific robots, not generic factory automation, as of 2026.
- Jiko, Stardust, and OMNI target pre-roll infusion, coating, and cartridge filling bottlenecks.
- Its 2025 integration launch makes it a systems integrator, not only equipment vendor.
Help us improve and share your feedback! Did you find this helpful?
Benefits
Dental Insurance
Flexible Work Hours
Health Insurance
Paid Vacation
Parental Leave
Vision Insurance
Health Savings Account/Flexible Spending Account
401(k) Retirement Plan
Wellness Program
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↑ 0%1 year growth
↑ 5%2 year growth
↑ 11%Sorting Robotics to showcase advanced cannabis automation and custom integration services at MJBizCon 2025. Los Angeles, CA - November 11, 2025 - Sorting Robotics, the premier industrial automation technology company for the cannabis industry, will highlight the next generation of intelligent automation at MJBizCon 2025. The company will debut its new custom integration and automation services while showcasing live demonstrations of its first-of-their-kind Jiko, Stardust, and OMNI robots at Booth #C23507. Sorting Robotics launches new integration and automation services launching at MJBizCon 2025. With the launch of its new integration offering, Sorting Robotics has become the cannabis industry's first true systems integrator, providing manufacturers and vertically integrated brands with fully customized solutions designed to unify and optimize production workflows. These services allow operators to connect disparate systems and automate key processes, resulting in greater efficiency, data visibility, and profitability across the manufacturing floor. "The cannabis industry has matured to a point where intelligent automation isn't just an advantage, it's a necessity," said Nohtal Partansky, Founder and CEO of Sorting Robotics. "Our new integration services bridge the gap between innovation and accessibility, giving cannabis producers the ability to modernize operations without sacrificing quality or control. We're helping companies operate smarter, faster, and more profitably." Live demonstrations of Jiko, Stardust, and OMNI. MJBizCon attendees will see Sorting Robotics' flagship Jiko, Stardust, and OMNI robots in action - three of the most advanced automation systems in the cannabis space. * Jiko Donut Maker: Automates the production of infused "donut-style" pre-rolls with precision and consistency, reducing manual labor while ensuring a superior end product. * Stardust Kief Coating Machine: Delivers high-volume, customizable kief application for pre-rolls, enabling operators to achieve consistent coating thickness and visual quality at scale. * OMNI Desktop Vape-Cartridge Filling Machine: Fills 100 vape carts per tray in just 75 seconds. Together, these systems showcase how Sorting Robotics blends robotics, computer vision, and AI-driven data analysis to streamline some of the most labor-intensive aspects of cannabis production. With its new integration services, the company is now expanding its role from equipment manufacturer to full-scale automation partner, designing interoperable solutions tailored to each client's operational needs. "At Sorting Robotics, we're taking the complexity out of automation," Partansky added. "By combining intelligent robotics with real-time analytics, we're creating an ecosystem where every machine, every process, and every data point works together. This is how cannabis manufacturing will evolve into the future." Technology and industry recognition. Sorting Robotics' proprietary technology integrates robotics, AI, and computer vision to help manufacturers and processors eliminate bottlenecks, collect actionable production data, and scale operations efficiently and profitably. In recognition of its rapid growth and impact, Sorting Robotics earned a place on the 2025 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. To learn more about Sorting Robotics or to schedule a demonstration at MJBizCon 2025, visit Booth #C23507 or go to www.sortingrobotics.com. About Sorting Robotics. Sorting Robotics is the premier industrial automation technology company for the cannabis industry. Specializing in robotics, computer vision, and AI technologies, Sorting Robotics helps break through the toughest bottlenecks of cannabis brands and processors utilizing a combination of real-time production data analytics and modern IoT hardware. This proprietary technology has been engineered to help manufacturers and processors grow and scale their operations efficiently, effectively, and profitably. About Nohtal Partansky. Nohtal Partansky is the Founder and CEO of Sorting Robotics. He is a serial entrepreneur and former NASA-JPL engineer. At NASA-JPL, Nohtal was a cognizant engineer on the MOXIE project, an instrument on the surface of Mars producing oxygen from the Martian atmosphere. After leaving NASA-JPL, Nohtal founded Sorting Robotics with his co-founder, Cassio Dos Santos Jr. Since the company's inception, Nohtal has led Sorting Robotics in building innovative equipment for cannabis manufacturers and vertically integrated brands. While building Sorting Robotics, he witnessed firsthand how the lack of automation in the cannabis industry disrupts the value chain and erodes profit margins. Today, Sorting Robotics is working to solve those problems with AI-driven machines deployed across North America.
In 2018, he and his co-founder established Sorting Robotics with a modest $6,000 in seed funding.
Ancillary cannabis firm Sorting Robotics raises $2M for expansion.
Sorting Robotics, a Los Angeles-based industrial automation company for the cannabis industry, raised $2 million in debt financing from investment groups Kiso Capital and Prospeq.
Sorting Robotics, which provides industrial automation solutions for the cannabis industry, has secured $2 million in debt financing.