What are the responsibilities and job description for the UAS GNC Engineer position at Knightwerx?
Knightwerx is looking for a highly skilled and experienced Senior GNC/Autonomy Engineer to work on the development of a small unmanned electric aircraft. We operate in a fast-paced development environment that balances innovation and ingenuity with practicality and reliability. You’ll be working and supported by a team of strong engineers and subject matter experts to develop an aircraft from the ground up and be involved in every step of the process.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor's or higher degree in relevant engineering discipline
- Min. 5 years GNC experience developing software for embedded systems
- Top to bottom, start to finish development of embedded system
- Cross-discipline, hands-on experience with electrical, embedded, and software fields
Attributes
- Innovative, hands-on, and practical
- Multi-disciplined, problem solver, driven by engineering analysis
- Goal driven, learns from mistakes, and closes the loop on the design process
- Understands trades of scope for effort
- Communicates well through discussion and documentation
- Works well with others to develop plans and solve problems
Primary Duties
- Focus on the adaptation and development of onboard flight control system for a small UAS
- Works with cross-discipline engineers (AE, ME, EE, SW) to understand the system-level desired functionality and translates to software requirements
- Works with aircraft designer to size and spatially configure control actuators; define and experimentally confirm control authority requirements
- Architects, implements and tunes vehicle and component control loops, and state estimation algorithms
- Work with SW team to build and implement 6-DOF software in the loop simulator
- Work with AE team to build 6-DOF vehicle model for simulation
- Aide in evaluating and defining tasking/effort to fit the schedule and scope of the project in conjunction with project management
Tasks
- State estimation algorithm implementation and tuning
- Architect/modify vehicle control loops
- Verify/tune vehicle and component control loops
- Develop vehicle and component-level models
- Research, down-select, and source vehicle sensors and computational components
- Help roadmap GPS-denied / VIO implementation into vehicle
Skills
- Understanding of common state estimation algorithms and methods for assessing/tuning
- Understanding of common control loops and methods for assessing/tuning
- Embedded programming, with emphasis on C/C in a robotics and/or UAV setting. Experience with Python, C# (desired)
- Basic understanding of low-level avionics hardware
- Capable of hardware debugging and/or working with hardware engineers to troubleshoot avionics issues Includes following wiring diagrams and oscilloscope/analyzer use
- Physics-based actuator/vehicle modeling
- Experience with Ardupilot and/or PX4 code bases and compatible hardware (desired)
Requirements
- Must have US citizenship
- On-site, collaborative work environment