Rover Navigation/Localization Engineer

Job Description

Job Description

Description

Venturi Astrolab, Inc. (Astrolab) is pioneering new ways to explore and operate on distant planetary bodies. We are singularly focused on designing, building, and operating a fleet of multi-purpose commercial planetary rovers to extend and enhance humanity’s presence in the solar system. We are seeking motivated, creative, and exceptional people to join our world-class team.   

The rover navigation/localization engineer will be responsible for the design, analysis, development, tuning, verification, and validation of localization solutions for Astrolab’s rovers.  Astrolab’s localization solutions utilize inputs from multiple types of sensors (e.g. IMU, star tracker, Lidar, cameras) to estimate vehicle state while also tolerating real world conditions such as data dropouts, invalid data, transmission latencies, and similar.  The rover navigation/localization engineer will be creating localization solutions that function reliably under real world conditions. 
What you'll do:

• Design, prototype, and analyze navigation/localization algorithms for extraplanetary mobility systems using simulated and real data from motor resolvers, IMUs, star trackers, cameras, and lidars 
• Support development of a GNC simulation, sensor models, and tooling for analysis, verification, and validation of rover localization algorithms 
• Analyze localization algorithm performance under real-world conditions such as faulty sensors, invalid data, data dropouts, variable data latencies, and poor lighting conditions 
• Perform Monte Carlo analysis to demonstrate localization algorithm performance to a high degree of statistical significance under nominal and off-nominal conditions 
• Support navigation/localization flight software implementation, testing, and verification 
• Support field testing of localization solutions on multiple test platforms 
• Stand up automated pipelines, test scenarios, test pass/fail criteria, and test reports for localization flight software verification and validation 
• Support live rover operations and troubleshoot any localization issues that may arise during lunar operations 

What you'll bring:

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience 
• 7+ years of experience designing, developing, and testing navigation and localization systems for rovers or GPS-denied navigation systems for terrestrial wheeled vehicles 
• Experience developing odometry solutions using multiple sensor inputs, including IMUs, wheel encoders or resolvers, LiDAR, cameras, or similar sensors 
• Experience designing, developing, tuning, analyzing, and verifying Kalman filters, particle filters, or similar estimation algorithms for wheeled vehicle navigation and localization 
• Experience programming in C++ and Python 

• Knowledge of equations of motion for wheeled vehicles operating on uneven or off-road terrain 
• Experience implementing visual odometry algorithms 
• Experience addressing navigation and localization system performance issues, including invalid data, dropped packets, communication latency, and degraded sensor data 
• Experience supporting navigation and localization systems throughout the product lifecycle, from design and development through vehicle testing and operations 
• Experience developing verification and validation tools for navigation and localization algorithms or embedded software 
• Experience developing navigation or localization systems for autonomous vehicles, planetary rovers, or aerospace applications 
• Experience with sensor fusion for autonomous systems 
• Experience with simulation and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing 
• Experience developing flight software or safety-critical embedded software 
• Experience with ROS, ROS 2, or similar robotics middleware 
• Experience working in a Linux development environment

Benefits and Perks

• Join a team of best-in-class engineers building the foundation of planetary surface exploration
• Equity ownership in the company
• Comprehensive health benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and mental health support
• 401(k) plan with company match
• Flexible PTO and parental leave
• Home office set up reimbursement
• Weekly lunch stipend, plus complimentary snacks and beverages on-site
• Once a month social hour on-site with food and drinks