Principal Embedded Software Engineer

BLUE ORIGIN•Los Angeles, CA

5d•$230,773 - $323,082

About The Position

At Blue Origin, we envision millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. We’re working to develop reusable, safe, and low-cost space vehicles and systems within a culture of safety, collaboration, and inclusion. Join our team of problem solvers as we add new chapters to the history of spaceflight! As a member of the Blue Origin family of companies Honeybee Robotics has been at the forefront of robotics for over 40 years, establishing ourselves as pioneers in developing novel exploration systems for the most extreme planetary environments. At our Southern California location, we look to "Touch Life" by supporting planetary science, including every NASA Mars rover since Spirit and Opportunity. We aim to "Mine the Sky" through the development of practical In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) solutions. We search for technically brilliant individuals in engineering, software, and support fields who take ownership of their work, enjoy collaborating in teams, and have a laser focus on the details that drive excellence. HBR is now building a family of robotic lunar rovers to support NASA science and technology missions. The first for the CP-21 mission will carry NASA’s Lunar-VISE instruments on a 1 km scientific traverse across Gruithuisen Gamma Dome; the second for the CT-4 mission will carry NASA's NIRVSS instrument on a 2 km traverse into permanently shadowed regions at the lunar south pole. These vehicles require onboard sensing and autonomous navigation capabilities to traverse multiple kilometers through hazardous terrain per lunar day. About the role HBR is hiring a rover autonomy lead on our CT-4 lunar rover. You will lead the implementation of an onboard classical perception and navigation system that enables the rover to map the surrounding terrain and avoid hazards in real time. You will own this capability and drive it from concept through field testing and flight operations. Collaboration is key and you will work with Honeybee’s scientists, engineering teams, and program management to bring exciting new products from concept to production. You'll have the opportunity and funding to innovate and improve robust autonomous exploration systems and will build lasting capability across HBR's rover product lines.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Computer Engineering, or Electrical Engineering.
More than 10 years of hands-on experience in software development for embedded platforms.
Proficient in developing baremetal applications using C/C++.
Background in spaceflight avionics applications.
Proficient in applying testing frameworks and conducting unit tests.
Proficient in writing drivers for various types of sensors.
Basic understanding of electromechanical systems (motors, actuators, controls).
Experience crafting autonomous safety-critical fault recovery code.
Proven experience crafting reliable software architectures for critical systems.
Adept with Git version control system.
Understanding of digital communication protocols (Ethernet, USB, asynchronous serial, CAN, SPI, I2C).
Familiarity with automated testing methodologies and continuous integration practices.
Familiarity reading circuit schematics and performing basic hardware debugging tasks.

Nice To Haves

Experience of operational control of a remotely controlled mission with large latencies
Experience with building and working with GDS or other C2 systems
Familiarity with vision based autonomy and hazard avoidance
Skilled in Python scripting.
Background in developing software for vehicles.
Experienced in working with sensors and camera systems.
Experience with localization
Proficiency in building maintainable and versatile multithreaded and multi-process applications in an RTOS environment.

Responsibilities

Lead efforts in coding, testing and validation of vehicle control software
Manage software field deployments and provide support on-site and remotely to customers.
Work with stakeholders to derive and own software system requirements and schedules.
Evaluate and identify improvements to system design with a specific focus on robust autonomy.
Collaborate with scientists, engineering managers, product management, and program management to drive new product development programs from concept to production.
Write requirements and specification documents.