Simulation & Perception Engineer Internship

Fiducial

OPENING WE CANNOT PROVIDE VISA SPONSORSHIP DETAILS Preferred starting date: ASAP Weekly availability: full-time (5 days/week) Period: 6 months Location: Aerospace Innovation Hub, Delft, the Netherlands ABOUT THE COMPANY Fiducial is a young but fast-growing deep-tech start-up with big ambitions at the frontier of autonomy, perception, and defence. Our core expertise lies in 3D vision and graphics technologies which we deploy in a dual-use context for inspection and defence. This role will initially focus mainly on the defence context where we are developing software for advanced on-board UAV situational awareness in military applications. Our solutions are aimed to operate with low-cost and widely available sensors and compute. From there, we plan to develop a line-up of interconnected solutions to safeguard European safety. Our team consists of engineers that are passionate about the technology and solutions they develop. The only time most of us are not thinking about the technology is when we are asleep, and sometimes even then. Our team members have a background in different fields such as Aerospace Engineering, Computational Science and Engineering, Robotics, and Computer Graphics. Our office is located in the Aerospace Innovation Hub, a start-up hub located on the TU Delft campus in the faculty of Aerospace Engineering. We work closely with top-tier partners, ranging from government agencies and prime contractors to academic research institutes and other start-ups. Our projects span from large tender orders in collaboration with partners, low TRL research with government agencies, to direct collaboration with military units. Whether through formal R&D programs or rapid prototyping tracks, we operate at the intersection of innovation and deployment. YOUR ROLE You will work in our team of experienced 3D vision engineers, 3D computer graphics engineers, and controls and robotics engineers. You will not just work on some unimportant side project but you might actually build key parts of solutions that will be used by our customers and partners. Activities include: * Contributing to the development and tuning of guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) algorithms for autonomous flight, including takeoff, landing, and waypoint following. * Assisting in integrating control and navigation modules with perception and state estimation systems. * Using simulation environments (SITL/HIL) to test and validate flight control behavior before hardware deployment. * Reviewing and interpreting flight logs and telemetry to help assess control performance and identify issues. * Working closely with hardware and flight test teams to configure and calibrate UAV platforms. * Supporting flight test campaigns through setup, monitoring, and post-flight data analysis. * Helping improve internal tools for simulation, control diagnostics, and flight visualization. * Learning from and collaborating with senior engineers to iterate between simulation and real-world testing and continuously improve flight performance. WHAT WE EXPECT FROM YOU * Foundational understanding of flight dynamics, control theory, and real-time systems. * Hands-on experience (academic, hobby, or project-based) designing control loops for UAVs or similar dynamic systems. * Familiarity with flight control stacks such as PX4, Ardupilot, or other open-source autopilots. * Strong programming skills in C++ or Python. * Awareness of state estimation and filtering concepts (e.g., sensor fusion, complementary filters, or EKF basics). * Comfort working with UAV simulators or an eagerness to learn SITL/HIL testing workflows. * Curiosity and motivation to learn quickly, explore new areas, and seek guidance when needed. * A hands-on attitude, persistence, and enthusiasm for building and improving real flying systems. * Full-time availability (40 hours). WHAT CAN WE OFFER * 1000 euro monthly compensation. * 10 vacation days during internship period. * (Really) flexible working hours and option to work from home 2 days per week. * Have a direct and significant influence on highly innovative products. * The opportunity to iterate quickly with tight feedback loops, close to the product. We are innovating, learning is to be expected. * Responsibility over the things you implement, you are the expert on what you build. THE APPLICATION PROCEDURE * If after reading the above you are convinced you are the right person for the job, send us some information about yourself; this can be a resume, website or other source, as long as we get a clear impression of your background and skills. * We’ll get back to you ASAP. If we feel you could be a fit for the position, we’ll invite you for an informal introduction so we can get to know you, and equally important, you can get to know us. After this, a technical focused interview could follow. * If at this point we feel you are the person we are looking for, we’ll discuss the specifics (starting date and period). * Welcome to the team!

Fiducial

OPENING WE CANNOT PROVIDE VISA SPONSORSHIP DETAILS Preferred starting date: ASAP Weekly availability: full-time (5 days/week) Period: 6 months Location: Aerospace Innovation Hub, Delft, the Netherlands ABOUT THE COMPANY Fiducial is a young but fast-growing deep-tech start-up with big ambitions at the frontier of autonomy, perception, and defence. Our core expertise lies in 3D vision and graphics technologies which we deploy in a dual-use context for inspection and defence. This role will initially focus mainly on the defence context where we are developing software for advanced on-board UAV situational awareness in military applications. Our solutions are aimed to operate with low-cost and widely available sensors and compute. From there, we plan to develop a line-up of interconnected solutions to safeguard European safety. Our team consists of engineers that are passionate about the technology and solutions they develop. The only time most of us are not thinking about the technology is when we are asleep, and sometimes even then. Our team members have a background in different fields such as Aerospace Engineering, Computational Science and Engineering, Robotics, and Computer Graphics. Our office is located in the Aerospace Innovation Hub, a start-up hub located on the TU Delft campus in the faculty of Aerospace Engineering. We work closely with top-tier partners, ranging from government agencies and prime contractors to academic research institutes and other start-ups. Our projects span from large tender orders in collaboration with partners, low TRL research with government agencies, to direct collaboration with military units. Whether through formal R&D programs or rapid prototyping tracks, we operate at the intersection of innovation and deployment. YOUR ROLE You will work in our team of experienced 3D vision engineers, 3D computer graphics engineers, and robotics engineers. You will not just work on some unimportant side project but you might actually build key parts of solutions that will be used by our customers and partners. Activities include: * Working on our in-house SOTA-beating visual odometry engine * Reconstructing 3D flight paths from camera detections * Implementing novel depth estimation methods for navigation WHAT WE EXPECT FROM YOU * Experience with real-time software development such as game, simulation, robotics or embedded development. * Experience with 3D vision for robotics such as SLAM, VIO, LIO or similar. * Familiarity with basic 3D vision concepts and algorithms such as projective geometry, epipolar geometry, PnP * Experience with 3D reconstruction solutions such as gaussian splatting, COLMAP, or photogrammetry. * Experience with modern C++ General * Full-time availability during the internship period. * A willingness to pick up and learn new concepts quickly and to self-acquire missing background knowledge. * A high degree of autonomy, determination and grit in making cool tech work. WHAT CAN WE OFFER * 1000 euro monthly compensation. * 10 vacation days during internship period. * (Really) flexible working hours and option to work from home 2 days per week. * Have a direct and significant influence on highly innovative products. * The opportunity to iterate quickly with tight feedback loops, close to the product. We are innovating, learning is to be expected. * Responsibility over the things you implement, you are the expert on what you build. THE APPLICATION PROCEDURE * If after reading the above you are convinced you are the right person for the job, send us some information about yourself; this can be a resume, website or other source, as long as we get a clear impression of your background and skills. * We’ll get back to you ASAP. If we feel you could be a fit for the position, we’ll invite you for an informal introduction so we can get to know you, and equally important, you can get to know us. After this, a technical focused interview could follow. * If at this point we feel you are the person we are looking for, we’ll discuss the specifics (starting date and period). * Welcome to the team!

SE3 Labs

🚀 JOIN SE3 LABS AS SENIOR PERCEPTION ENGINEER Own the spatial state-estimation layer of our autonomy platform. Build the perception systems that let drones understand where they are, what they see, and how to operate when GPS, lighting, timing, and the real world get difficult.   ABOUT SE3 SE3 Labs is building Spatial AI by combining 3D computer vision with large language models. We believe the ability to reason about and act within physical space is foundational to unlocking the next generation of automation, from construction to smart infrastructure, and ultimately, defence. Now, we’re bringing Spatial AI into the sky through high-performance UAVs that can perceive, localize, coordinate, and act in the real world. This requires perception systems that are not just accurate in a notebook, but robust on real sensors, on real compute, in real missions.   ABOUT THE ROLE As Senior Perception Engineer - VIO / SLAM / Sensor Fusion, you will own core parts of the real-time perception and localization stack for our autonomous systems. You will develop and deploy the algorithms that let our platforms estimate motion, maintain pose, build spatial understanding, and operate reliably in degraded or GPS-denied environments. You will work across visual-inertial odometry, SLAM, sensor fusion, calibration, time synchronization, mapping, and real-time systems. Your work will sit at the center of our autonomy platform: connecting cameras, IMUs, GNSS, onboard compute, control systems, payloads, and Spatial AI models into a coherent understanding of the world. This is a hands-on engineering role. You will design algorithms, write production code, analyze logs, debug sensor issues, validate performance in simulation and flight, and work closely with robotics software, embedded, hardware, and field teams to turn perception research into fieldable capability.   WHAT YOU’LL WORK ON * Continuously push the boundary of what's possible: Improve state estimation capabilities in very difficult field conditions during heavy rain, snow, fog, in the night, under strong vibration, motion blur, imperfect calibration and sensor degradation. Utilize improved fusion, novel deep learning methods and our data engine. * VIO & State Estimation: Build, tune, and deploy robust visual-inertial odometry and state-estimation pipelines for robotics systems operating in dynamic, outdoor, and GPS-challenged environments. Initial focus is on UAVs, but we want to build algorithms that work well for any robotics system. * Sensor Fusion: Fuse and synchronize data from cameras, IMUs, magnetometers, barometers, and other onboard sensors into reliable pose, orientation, uncertainty estimates, and spatial context for downstream autonomy. * SLAM & Re-localization: Build mapping, loop closure, re-localization, and map-based navigation capabilities that let our systems maintain spatial understanding across missions, environments, and degraded sensor conditions. * Calibration & Timing: Own intrinsic, extrinsic, and temporal calibration workflows. Diagnose drift, latency, frame drops, sync issues, rolling-shutter effects, vibration, and sensor degradation. * Real-Time Deployment: Optimize perception pipelines for onboard compute, including Nvidia Jetson-class platforms, low-power edge CPUs/GPUs, and resource-constrained robotic systems. * Validation & Regression: Build replayable log pipelines, evaluation datasets, test metrics, and automated regression tests to measure localization accuracy, robustness, latency, and failure modes on a huge company-internal benchmark. * Field Debugging: Analyze real mission logs, reproduce failures, isolate root causes, and improve the system until it works not only in ideal conditions, but in the field. * Autonomy Integration: Define clean interfaces to planning, control, fleet coordination, operator UI, and Spatial AI systems so that perception outputs are usable, reliable, and explainable. * Technical Leadership: Mentor engineers, review architecture and code, raise engineering standards, and help define the long-term perception roadmap for SE3’s autonomous systems.     YOUR PROFILE * Most importantly, you’re structured, fast-moving, and mission-driven. You don’t wait for perfection. You iterate fast. You love building things that last and analyse and fix root cause problems over applying patches. * You hold an M.Sc., Ph.D., or equivalent practical background in Robotics, Computer Vision, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field. * You bring several years of hands-on experience building perception, SLAM, VIO, localization, sensor-fusion, or state-estimation systems for real-world robotics, AR/VR, autonomous vehicles, drones, or adjacent domains. * You have strong foundations in 3D geometry, linear algebra, probability, estimation theory, optimization, filtering, and real-time robotics systems. * You are strong in C++, Python or Rust and comfortable writing production-quality software for Linux-based robotic systems. * You have practical experience with techniques such as EKF, factor graphs, nonlinear least squares, bundle adjustment, visual odometry, inertial navigation, calibration, and multi-sensor fusion. * You have worked with real sensors and understand that perception failures often come from timing, calibration, vibration, lighting, motion blur, data quality, or integration issues rather than from the algorithm alone. * You care about metrics, logs, reproducibility, and systematic validation. You don’t just make a demo work once; you build the tools to know when it works, when it fails, and why. * You speak fluent English; German is a plus. Given the nature of SE3’s work in the defence sector, candidates must be eligible to work on defence-related projects and, where required, obtain the relevant security clearance.   ESPECIALLY VALUED BONUS SKILLS * Experience deploying perception systems on Nvidia Jetson, embedded CPUs/GPUs, writing CUDA kernels, optimizing deep neural networks for edge deployment. * Experience with LWIR thermal cameras (for navigation), rolling shutter effects, visual-inertial calibration, multi-camera rigs, fisheye/wide-angle lenses or monocular depth. * Experience with GNSS-denied navigation in UAV context, terrain-relative navigation, map-based localization and re-localization. * Experience building evaluation datasets, replay systems, perception observability, log tooling, and automated regression pipelines. * Publications or open-source contributions in SLAM, VIO, 3D computer vision, state estimation, or robotics are welcome, but not required.   PERKS & BENEFITS * Real Ownership: Get equity early, real stock options to participate directly in SE3’s growth * Work Environment to Excel at: Find a high-quality and modern toolset, flat hierarchy and a skilled, driven team which will push the limits together with you * AI-boosted workplace: We empower every employee with best-in-class AI tools and agents, giving you unlimited access to the latest advancements and a true productivity edge * 31 Paid Days Off: 30 vacation days plus your birthday off * Well-being Access: Free membership to gyms, yoga, and wellness through EGYM Wellpass * Team Offsites: We go on 2 company retreats per year, our last ones were in Italy and Greece * Mentorship: Work closely with experienced engineers and get paired with a professional mentor to support your growth   OUR PROCESS 1. Intro Call (20 min): Let’s get to know each other 2. Coding / Algorithm Interview: (90 min): We work through a practical perception, estimation, or robotics software problem together 3. Technical Interview (1 hr): We dive into your experience with perception, state estimation, SLAM/VIO, robotics, and real-world debugging 4. Team Dinner / Lunch: Meet the team and see whether it is a strong fit on both sides.