Autonomy Engineer Intern, Autonomy Infrastructure, Systems and Tools, 2027 (HQ)

Description

The company is a US drone maker focused on autonomous flight, and its drones serve users from utility inspectors to first responders and soldiers.

The autonomy team builds the computer vision algorithms that let drones read their surroundings. The team includes researchers with academic and industry track records in the field.

As a research intern, you will be paired with one or more engineers from the core software team and take direct ownership of a project that moves the team's capabilities and products forward.

This role suits someone with a solid base in math, theory, and software development who wants to help build the next generation of autonomy algorithms and get them into real products.

The internship covers the autonomy infrastructure, systems and tools group, which works at the boundary between autonomy software and robotics middleware.

Responsibilities

• Build replay and analysis systems that let engineers inspect and reproduce recorded autonomy behavior, with fine control over system state, perception outputs, and decisions at each stage of the stack.
• Develop scalable infrastructure for automated testing and failure triage, extending simulation and log-driven test coverage and speeding root-cause analysis with automated log processing and diagnostics.
• Define APIs, data contracts, and performance requirements for messaging, state propagation, and coordination between subsystems, and work with downstream teams on implementation and integration.
• Design and build reliable, fast, and easy-to-use developer tools that support quick iteration, safe experimentation, and steady progress across the autonomy organization.
• Lead the design and build of scalable tools for autonomy development and testing workflows.
• Work with autonomy, QA, and infrastructure teams to gather requirements, agree on priorities, and deliver tooling that makes a difference.
• Build tools that streamline stages of the robotics development process.
• Own internal services from concept through deployment and monitoring.
• Help shape the long-term vision and roadmap for developer tools that improve debugging, test coverage, and system understanding.

Requirements

• Proficiency in C++ and Python, with a solid understanding of performance-sensitive and multi-threaded systems.
• Experience with simulation frameworks, time-synchronized data systems, or state-machine-driven applications.
• Familiarity with structured data visualization, log processing, or developer tooling design.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work well with cross-functional teams.
• Comfort working at pace when requirements change and priorities shift.
• Bonus experience (optional): building performance-sensitive systems (profiling, multithreading, real-time constraints) in robotics, aerospace, automotive, or similar domains.
• Bonus experience (optional): exposure to robotics, simulation, or physics engines.
• Bonus experience (optional): background in telemetry systems, log ingestion pipelines, or automated test environments.
• Bonus experience (optional): front-end skills in modern web frameworks (e.g., React, TypeScript, Three.js, Plotly) focused on data interaction and visualization.
• Bonus experience (optional): familiarity with distributed systems or cloud-hosted services that support internal tools and customer applications.

Conditions

Hourly pay is $47 for undergraduate students, $53 for master's students, and $70 for PhD students.

Pay depends on skill level, proficiencies, transferable knowledge, and experience.

Pay for certain positions may vary by location.

Equal opportunity: the company works to build an inclusive, diverse team.

Benefits

• Full-time employees are eligible for the company's benefit plans and a range of incentives and stipends, in addition to base salary.