Perception & State Estimation Engineer - DoorDash Air
About The Position
DoorDash Labs is an independent team within DoorDash that explores robotics and automation for the long-term transformation of last-mile logistics. The State Estimation & Perception Engineer will join the Autonomy Software team and own development of perception and state estimation for the package pickup and delivery system. The role influences early system design decisions, including sensor selection, sensing architecture, and observability analysis. The engineer will develop and tune the drone’s state-estimation stack, including PX4 EKF modifications, fault tolerance, and fusion of multiple sensors with visual-inertial odometry and laser odometry. The role also covers state estimation and perception for the delivery mechanism, including dynamics modeling, observation-model design, and sensor selection. The engineer will collaborate with controls, planning, and hardware teams, and design and execute flight-test campaigns to validate estimator performance.
Requirements
- Deep experience with state estimation and filtering, including EKF, UKF, MSCKF, and particle filters.
- Experience with optimization-based methods, such as factor graphs, GTSAM, Ceres, or SymForce.
- Experience with visual-inertial odometry (VIO) and/or laser odometry (LIO).
- Proficiency in modern computer vision, including feature extraction, tracking, and depth estimation.
- Strong C++ and/or Rust skills, with Python for prototyping and analysis.
- Experience deploying estimation on real hardware with real sensor noise.
- Ability to derive an EKF from scratch, including process and measurement models, observability analysis, and consistency checks.
- Deep linear algebra knowledge, including matrix decompositions, sparsity exploitation, and numerical conditioning.
- Experience closing a perception-to-control loop on real hardware under degraded conditions.
- Comfort operating at the intersection of theory and embedded reality.
- Proactive approach to development, including crafting new tools.
- MS or PhD degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, or a related technical field.
- Passion for delivering outstanding customer experiences.
Nice To Haves
- Experience with PX4 or ArduPilot EKF internals.
- Experience with multi-body state estimation, such as tethered or suspended payloads.
- Familiarity with SLAM in GPS-denied environments.
- Publications or open-source contributions in state estimation or VIO.
- Experience debugging estimator failures in the field, not just in simulation.
Responsibilities
- Own tuning and implementation of the drone state-estimation stack, including PX4 EKF modifications, fault tolerance, and multisensor fusion with VIO and laser odometry.
- Own state estimation and perception for the delivery mechanism, including dynamics modeling, observation-model design, and sensor selection.
- Work with controls and planning teams to close the loop on automated pickup and delivery.
- Work with the hardware team to define sensing principles and sensor placement.
- Design and execute flight-test campaigns to validate estimator performance.
- Identify and resolve estimation failure modes, including degenerate geometries, sensor dropout, and initialization.
Benefits
- 401(k) plan with employer matching.
- 16 weeks of paid parental leave.
- Wellness benefits.
- Commuter benefits match.
- Paid time off and paid sick leave.
- Flexible paid time off/vacation and 80 hours of paid sick time per year for salaried roles.
- Medical, dental, and vision benefits.
- 11 paid holidays.
- Disability and basic life insurance.
- Family-forming assistance.
- Mental health program.
- Equity grant opportunities.
- Wellness expense reimbursement.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
