Autonomy Engineer Intern, Simulation & Robotics, 2027 (HQ)

Description

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

The role sits on the computer vision and deep learning team, where the algorithms that let drones perceive their surroundings are built and deployed on every drone the company makes.

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

The ideal candidate has a solid base in math, theory and software development and wants to help build the next generation of autonomy algorithms and get them into real products.

Areas of work include the simulator core, physics and dynamics, sensor and hardware simulation, running the full autonomy stack in simulation, new simulator features, and performance and fidelity.

Responsibilities

• Build core simulator components in C++ and Python with near real-time performance in mind.
• Work with autonomy, perception and controls engineers so simulated behavior matches the real systems.
• Track down problems that span physics, sensors, autonomy logic and rendering.
• Help set the long-term technical direction of the simulator as a product and as an internal platform.
• Write documentation so others understand how the simulator works internally.

Requirements

• Solid software engineering experience in C++ and Python.
• Experience building complex systems where performance, determinism or correctness matter.
• Comfort with time-synchronized systems, state machines or real-time execution.
• Ability to work in a large, changing codebase with many stakeholders.
• Interest in robotics, simulation or physical systems. Prior robotics experience is a plus but not required.
• Optional: experience with robotics, simulation, game engines or real-time systems.
• Optional: experience with physics engines, sensor modeling or hardware abstraction layers.
• Optional: experience with multithreaded or low-latency system design.
• Optional: experience debugging systems that span software and physical behavior.

Conditions

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

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

Pay for some positions may vary by location.

Full-time employees are eligible for the company's benefit plans.

Benefits

• Full-time employees can enroll in benefit plans and receive various incentives and stipends in addition to base salary.