Internship, Autonomy - Path Planning (Summer 2026)

Pivotal • Palo Alto, CA

30d • Onsite

About The Position

The Autonomy team at Pivotal develops advanced autonomy capabilities for our aircraft, enabling safe, precise, and reliable mission execution from takeoff to landing. We are seeking an Autonomy Intern – Path Planning to support the development of intelligent navigation and motion-planning algorithms for autonomous robotic systems to develop path planning algoirithms for our Helix platform.

In this role, you will collaborate with autonomy and GNC engineers to design, implement, and evaluate planning algorithms that operate effectively in dynamic, real-world environments. This internship is well-suited for students or early‑career engineers interested in robotics, autonomy, and deploying planning systems on real platforms.

Requirements

• Currently pursuing a BS, MS, or PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• Strong programming skills in C++ and/or Python, MATLAB
• Knowledge of robot motion planning concepts (e.g., graph search, sampling-based planning, and trajectory optimization).
• Familiarity with robotics software frameworks such as ROS.
• Understanding robot kinematics, dynamics, and control basics.
• Strong problem-solving and debugging skills.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with UAV platforms or aerial robotics.
• Familiarity with the PX4 autopilot software stack.
• Hands-on experience integrating autonomy software with real hardware systems.
• Experience with planning algorithms such as: A, D, RRT / RRT
• Experience with simulation environments (e.g., Gazebo, AirSim).
• Familiarity with state estimation, mapping, or perception systems.
• Experience running field tests or flight experiments.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement path planning and trajectory generation algorithms for autonomous systems.
• Develop and evaluate motion planning solutions for our Helix platform in simulation and real-world environments.
• Integrate planning modules within robotics software frameworks such as ROS-based autonomy stacks.
• Work with perception and control modules to enable end-to-end autonomous navigation.
• Test and validate planning algorithms through simulation, hardware-in-the-loop, and flight experiments.
• Analyze performance metrics and improve robustness, safety, and computational efficiency.
• Collaborate with engineers to deploy autonomy features onto our helix platform.

Benefits

• Pivotal offers a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, and 401k plans.

What This Job Offers

• Career Level: Intern