Sensor & Perception Engineer, Robotics Hardware

FieldAI’s Irvine team is where embodied AI meets real robots, real sensors, and real field deployments. Based in the heart of Southern California’s robotics ecosystem, we build risk-aware, reliable, field-ready AI systems that solve the hardest problems in robotics and unlock the full potential of embodied intelligence. If you want your work to ship, get tested on hardware, and improve through real deployments, Irvine is the place. We go beyond typical data-driven approaches or pure transformer-only architectures, combining rigorous engineering with learning systems proven in globally deployed solutions that deliver results today and get better every time our robots run in the field. Hardware Team: The Hardware Team at FieldAI develops perception and compute payloads that power autonomous robotics systems in complex real-world environments. Our work spans the full hardware stack designing and integrating sensing systems (LiDAR, camera, TOF, IMU, GPS), embedded compute (CPUs, GPUs, microcontrollers, ROS, sensor drivers), electrical systems (power distribution, communication), and mechanical components (structures, thermal regulation, ingress protection). The team focuses on both development (research, design, prototyping, testing) and operations (production, testing, QA, debugging). We’re a small, fast-moving team, and we care deeply about improving: 1) core capabilities, 2) system reliability, 3) system scalability. As a growing team we are also building operational systems and procedures from the ground up.   Sensor Systems Role: As a Sensor Systems Engineer on the Hardware Team, you will contribute to the design, integration, calibration, and validation of the sensing 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. What You Will Get To Do

1. 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.
  
  

2. 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.
  
  

3. 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.

What You Have

• Education: B.S., M.S. or Ph.D. in Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Engineering Physics, Physics, or a related field.

• Experience Level: We are recruiting across a wide range of experience levels from entry level engineers to senior and staff engineers.

• Hands-On Sensors Experience: Hands-on work with perception sensors such as LiDAR, depth cameras, IMUs, GPS.

• Systems Thinking: Cross-functional collaboration experience across electrical, mechanical, and software teams.

• Sensor Physics: Strong foundation in optics, signal processing, and electromagnetic wave propagation.

• Lab Skills: Hands-on testing, calibration, and debugging skills (oscilloscopes, logs, vibration/thermal setups)

• Communication Protocols: Experience with protocols such as USB, Ethernet, GMSL, CAN, I2C, and CSI.

• Computer & Software: Experience working with ROS/ROS2, sensor drivers, coordinate transforms (TF), and timing protocols (PTP, NTP, etc.).

• Timing & Triggers: Experience with timestamping, synchronization, triggering, and latency constraints.

• Calibration & Characterization: Experience designing and executing intrinsic, extrinsic, and temporal calibrations, along with sensor characterization under real-world environmental conditions.

• Simulation: Experience high-fidelity simulation environments (Gazebo, Isaac Sim, RViz) for sensor modeling.

What Will Set You Apart

• Scaling: Experience taking systems from prototype to large scale production.

• Field Environments: Experience developing systems for harsh field environments.

• Deployed Robotics: Experience working on robotics deployed in real world settings such as autonomous vehicles, drones, or ruggedized robots.

• Systems Level Robotics: Fluency across software, electrical, and mechanical systems.

• Autonomy Software: Knowledge of autonomy stacks used in robotics. As well as how sensor performance impacts autonomy algorithms.
  

Our salary range is generous and we consider each individual’s background and experience when determining final compensation. Base pay may vary based on role scope, job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and the Irvine, California market.   Why Join FieldAI in Irvine? In Irvine, you will work where the robots are. Our local team builds and tests systems on real hardware with real sensors, then ships them to operate in unstructured, previously unknown environments around the world. We are solving one of robotics’ hardest challenges: reliable deployment outside the lab. Our Field Foundational Models™ raise the bar for perception, planning, localization, and manipulation, with an emphasis on explainability and safety for real-world use. You will collaborate with a world-class team that thrives on creativity, resilience, and bold thinking. We bring deep experience from organizations such as DeepMind, NASA JPL, Boston Dynamics, NVIDIA, Amazon, Tesla Autopilot, Cruise, Zoox, Toyota Research Institute, and SpaceX, along with a track record of field deployments and strong performance in DARPA challenge segments.   Be Part of the Next Robotics Revolution We are looking for builders who want their work to leave the whiteboard and show up on robots. If you enjoy tackling tough, uncharted questions and working across disciplines, you will find your people here. Our teams span AI, software, robotics engineering, product, field deployment, and technical communication, all focused on shipping systems that perform in the real world.   Our headquarters is in Irvine, and we partner closely with teams there as well as colleagues across the US and around the world. Join us in Southern California and help define what dependable, field-ready autonomy looks like.   We value diverse perspectives and are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace. We evaluate candidates and employees based on merit, qualifications, and performance, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, national origin, ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, or any other legally protected status.