Sensor Systems Engineer-Federal

FieldAI•Pittsburgh, PA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Field AI is transforming how robots interact with the real world. We are building risk-aware, reliable, and field-ready AI systems that address the most complex challenges in robotics, unlocking the full potential of embodied intelligence. We go beyond typical data-driven approaches or pure transformer-based architectures, and are charting a new course, with already-globally-deployed solutions delivering real-world results and rapidly improving models through real-field applications. About the Job At FieldAI, we build autonomous robotic systems that operate in demanding, real-world environments where tight integration between hardware and software is critical. We’re looking for a Sensor Systems Engineer to support system and component level design, integration, and validation for sensing systems on wheeled robotic platforms across both federal and commercial programs. Sensor Systems Role: As a Perception Systems Engineer on the Federal Team, you will contribute to the design, integration, calibration, and validation of the sensing and compute systems that underpin our autonomy stack. You will work with a diverse array of sensors—LiDARs, depth cameras, IMUs, GPS, and more—ensuring each one delivers accurate, time-synchronized, and spatially consistent data in a range of environments and operating conditions. You will collaborate closely with the autonomy, compute, electrical, and mechanical teams to build tightly integrated solutions ready for deployment in challenging field environments. Additionally, while your focus will be on sensors you will likely contribute across all hardware domains.

Requirements

B.S., M.S. or Ph.D. in Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Engineering Physics, Physics, or a related field.
Hands-on work with perception sensors such as LiDAR, depth cameras, IMUs, GPS.
Cross-functional collaboration experience across electrical, mechanical, and software teams.
Strong foundation in optics, signal processing, and electromagnetic wave propagation.
Hands-on testing, calibration, and debugging skills (oscilloscopes, logs, vibration/thermal setups)
Experience with protocols such as USB, Ethernet, GMSL, CAN, I2C, and CSI.
Experience working with ROS/ROS2, sensor drivers, coordinate transforms (TF), and timing protocols (PTP, NTP, etc.).
Experience with timestamping, synchronization, triggering, and latency constraints.
Experience designing and executing intrinsic, extrinsic, and temporal calibrations, along with sensor characterization under real-world environmental conditions.
Experience high-fidelity simulation environments (Gazebo, Isaac Sim, RViz) for sensor modeling.
U.S. Person eligibility is required for this role, as defined by 22 C.F.R §120.62 (U.S. Citizen, U.S. National, lawful permanent residents (green card holders), refugee or asylee).

Nice To Haves

Experience taking systems from prototype to large scale production.
Experience developing systems for harsh field environments.
Experience working on robotics deployed in real world settings such as autonomous vehicles, drones, or ruggedized robots.
Fluency across software, electrical, and mechanical systems.
Knowledge of autonomy stacks used in robotics. As well as how sensor performance impacts autonomy algorithms.

Responsibilities

Sensor System Design: Sensor Architecture: Work across hardware and software teams to define sensing requirements. Identity, test, and select sensors such as LiDARs, depth cameras, GPS, IMUs, ToF, and other devices. Systems Integration: Integrate sensors with electrical (USB, Ethernet, I2C, CAN, GMSL), mechanical (mounts, jigs, isolation), and software (configurations, drivers, ROS nodes) systems. Ensuring power, thermal, and protocol compatibility. Spatial Performance: Architect system to meet spatial sampling performance requirements including spatial coverage, range, resolution, and transform accuracy. Temporal Performance: Implement and validate synchronization strategies, triggering schemes, timestamp encoding, and end-to-end latency minimization.
Sensor System Implementation: Performance Characterization: Evaluate sensor performance (spatial resolution, temporal drift, EMI noise, sync errors etc.). Test under real-world environmental conditions (vibration, lighting, moisture, temperature). Calibration: Design and execute both intrinsic and extrinsic calibrations. Build alignment rigs and calibration boards as needed. Optimization: Tune sensor configurations (exposure, gain, filtering, frame rate, etc.) and processing pipeline (filtering etc.) for optimal performance Documentation: Create timing diagrams, sensor maps, coordinate transforms, and maintain all configuration files, launch scripts, driver references, and firmware states.
Sensor System Production & Servicing: Build: Work with vendors to procure sensors. Develop QA checks for incoming units. Support payload integration and manufacturing at scale. Debug: Conduct root cause analysis of sensor systems including issues across hardware and software boundaries. Monitor: Develop protocols for monitoring the sensing system health, data quality, and calibration status during field deployments.