Senior Motion Planning & Controls Software Engineer

Onward Robotics • Pittsburgh, PA

3d • Onsite

About The Position

As a Senior Motion Planning & Controls Software Engineer in our Robot Software Department, you will focus on the design and implementation of motion planning and controls software for our autonomous mobile robots, including cobots that operate directly alongside human workers. As a core team member, you will work in an Agile software development environment to improve the existing motion planning and controls software. These improvements will help make our autonomous robots more effective, reliable, and safe in uncertain and dynamic environments shared with people.

Requirements

• Modern C++ programming fluency and design patterns
• Experience working with physical robots and the flow of information through its primary sub-systems
• Experience with source code management systems (e.g. git) and performing detailed code reviews
• Experience with Linux systems
• 2-3 years of work experience creating classical motion planning algorithms for autonomous mobile robots
• Strong foundation in practical mathematical skills (e.g. linear algebra)
• Strong foundation in motion planning concepts and basic planning algorithms such as A*, RRT, RRT*, DWA, Potential Field, etc.
• Ability to evaluate existing upstream outputs and understand the impact to trajectory tracking & control needs when implementing a planning solution
• Understanding of collaborative robot (cobot) safety principles for systems operating alongside human workers, including speed and separation monitoring, power/force limiting, and relevant safety standards (e.g., ISO 10218, ISO/TS 15066)

Nice To Haves

• 5+ years of work experience in end-to-end system development & deployment of production level motion planning algorithms for autonomous mobile robots
• Experience with different types of planners such as Lattice planners, modeling behaviors for heuristics-based planners
• Fusion of multi-stage planners (e.g. local, global, mission)
• Working with GPU based embedded systems (e.g. CUDA)

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain the motion planning and controls subsystem of autonomous robots
• Participate in requirements-driven, object-oriented software design
• Implement & deploy software in both simulation and physical targets
• Participate in an Agile development environment
• Design and tune motion planning and control behaviors for robots operating safely in close proximity to human workers, balancing throughput with safety margins

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior