Sensor Systems Engineer-Federal

FieldAI•Pittsburgh, PA

17h•Onsite

About The Position

At FieldAI, we build autonomous robotic systems that operate in demanding, real-world environments where tight integration between hardware and software is critical. Weâ€™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. 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 sensorsâ€”LiDARs, depth cameras, IMUs, GPS, and moreâ€”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 communication 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 with high-fidelity simulation environments (Gazebo, Isaac Sim, RViz) for sensor modeling.
U.S. Person eligibility required for the FieldAI Federal Team.

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 and how sensor performance impacts autonomy algorithms.

Responsibilities

Sensor System Design: Define sensing requirements, identify, test, and select sensors (LiDARs, depth cameras, GPS, IMUs, ToF). Integrate sensors with electrical, mechanical, and software systems, ensuring compatibility. Architect systems to meet spatial sampling performance requirements. Implement and validate synchronization strategies, triggering schemes, timestamp encoding, and end-to-end latency minimization.
Sensor System Implementation: Evaluate sensor performance (spatial resolution, temporal drift, EMI noise, sync errors) under real-world conditions. Design and execute intrinsic and extrinsic calibrations. Tune sensor configurations and processing pipelines for optimal performance. Create documentation including timing diagrams, sensor maps, coordinate transforms, and maintain configuration files, launch scripts, driver references, and firmware states.
Sensor System Production & Servicing: Work with vendors to procure sensors and develop QA checks. Support payload integration and manufacturing at scale. Conduct root cause analysis of sensor system issues. Develop protocols for monitoring sensing system health, data quality, and calibration status during field deployments.