Motion Planning & Controls Intern

At Odys Aviation, we’re building advanced vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for major airlines. This will cut travel time in half on the world’s busiest routes by using city helipads and local airports. More than 40% of all flights are less than 1,000 miles - let’s skip the airport and make these routes sustainable. Check out our intro video and in Techcrunch.

We’re a team of expert engineers from deep tech and aerospace working to remove the hassles of flying and reduce CO2 emissions for travelers globally. Previously, our team has built and flown custom drones. We’ve brought multiple automotive platforms into production. We’ve electrified transportation vehicles that magnetically levitate, that roll, that fly. Together, we’ve been learning, developing, building, testing, and preparing for this challenge our entire lives.

We are hiring for several positions within the Engineering department and this is an exciting and challenging opportunity to join a world-class team of aviation, electrification and transportation enthusiast.

The Motion Planning & Controls Intern will contribute to the development of advanced navigation systems for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and future passenger aircraft. This internship emphasizes the development, testing and implementation of motion planning and controls software to achieve precise navigation over longer distances without relying solely on GPS. The intern will participate in a proof of concept project aimed at advancing navigation technology in aviation.

Key Responsibilities:

• Research, design, and implement cutting-edge motion planning algorithms for real-time autonomous systems operating in GPS-denied environments.
• Develop trajectory optimizers that adhere to geometric and dynamic constraints.
• Collaborate with the Perception team to integrate existing perception and planning algorithms seamlessly.
• Test and evaluate the navigation system's performance in both simulated and real-world environments.

Requirements:

• Currently pursuing a Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Computer Engineering, Robotics, or a related field.
• Proven experience in designing and implementing path planning and search algorithms, such as A*, RRT, PRM etc.
• In-depth understanding of quad-rotor dynamics and control systems.
• Strong programming skills in C++ and Python.
• Proficiency with tools and frameworks such as ROS, Gazebo, RVIZ, PCL, Pytorch CUDA, OpenCL & OpenGL.
• Experience in developing software for resource-constrained, real-time, embedded environments like NXP SOMS, IMX 8MP, NVIDIA Jetson.
• Hands-on experience with sensors like Lidar, Cameras, ToF sensors, and IMUs for modelling, processing, and noise identification.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Knowledge of linear, nonlinear control and sensor fusion techniques.
• Familiarity with Visual Odometry, state estimation and SLAM algorithms
• Familiarity with PX4 and/or Ardupilot Flight Controller (FC) software.
• Understanding of UAV/UAS technologies and relevant regulations.
• Experience with hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing and simulation.