Preparing for an Embedded Systems Interview in Robotics — What Should I Focus On?

[u/xmanotaur]

I have an upcoming technical interview for a Software/Embedded Infrastructure role at a vertically integrated robotics company.

The position focuses on the software layer between high-level AI/vision models and the low-level motor drivers and actuators, running on an NVIDIA Jetson edge platform.

The system involves Linux services communicating through zero-copy IPC, CPU affinity/core pinning, EtherCAT communication with motor controllers, and real-time sensor pipelines for vision and kinematics.

The first round is expected to focus on low-level C and systems programming.

Given this architecture, which areas would you consider the highest priority to study? Also, what are some representative interview questions you would expect for this kind of role?

Thanks!