We are hiring!

Ascent Robotics is seeking a Senior Software Engineer (Simulation) to help our Simulation team build a world-class simulator for robotics and machine learning applications. We are creating advanced solutions for industrial robotics applications, and you will be working closely with roboticists and researchers on enabling industrial robots to see and operate in the real world.

At Ascent we are creating a passionate and engaging culture, combining the best of academia and product-led environments, providing a balance of structure and flexibility. Our approach encourages collaboration across all groups within the team, leading to creativity and innovative breakthroughs at the forefront of robotics.

• Work as part of the team of software engineers and 3D artists to ship code and assets rapidly to production and iterate based on results and feedback
• Coordinate with robotics engineers, machine learning engineers, and AI researchers to ensure the simulation product meets the needs of customers.
• Think creatively in an unsolved space - architect new software solutions and design interfaces to tackle customer issues.
• Rapidly prototype code and assets, push them to internal users, and iterate on the feedback and results
• Identify existing architectural issues and other improvements
• Dive deep into Unreal Engine backend code, art asset pipelines, and other simulation-related code as needed
• Strong sense of ownership

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical fie
• Minimum 5 years hands-on experience with Unreal Engin
• Minimum 2 years managing software development teams
• Ability to coach and mentor develope
• Knowledge of Agile methodologies
• Strong proficiency in C++ and Python
• Proficiency with software collaboration tools (git, Jira, etc.
• Basic GUI toolkit knowledge (Qt, GTK, Tk...)
• Linux development experience

• Master’s or further education
• Experience with Gazebo and ROS
• Experience with additional programmable 3D environments (Blender, Unity…
• Working knowledge of physics engines in simulation
• Distributed simulation experience
• 3D modeling or asset creation experience
• Experience with GPU Programming (CUDA, OpenCL)
• Experience with VR and/or AR programming
• Interest in AI
• Experience using machine learning platforms, tools and libraries (such as PyTorch, Kubernetes, Docker, Ansible, Amazon AWS, etc.)
• Contributions to Open Source projects

Our Software Engineers are focused on creating the ideal software environment and infrastructure to support research and our robotic and AI applications. We use cutting edge technologies and high performance computing platforms to make our software infrastructure both on our robots and in the cloud fast and easy to use.

The work we do presents interesting and unique engineering challenges. As a Software Engineer at Ascent's Autonomous Vehicles team, you can work on several different areas such as real time systems, AI integration, sensor integration and robotic middleware development. You will develop both internal software tools and products that ship to our industry partners.

As a member of the Engineering Team, you’ll be part of a highly collaborative team who can work closely together and help each other on different tasks. Together, you’ll provide our researchers with the tools to fully utilize computing resources, enabling research to progress at a faster pace. This will involve developing, testing and enhancing software solutions based on requirements from a multitude of stakeholders including researchers, team leads and program managers.

• You will be working with the Engineering team to develop our robotic software and back-end for large data sets
• Provide software design and programming support to research projects
• Report and present software development including status and results clearly and efficiently, verbally and in writing
• Architect and implement software libraries and internal tools
• Write and maintain documentation for the code you write Integrate our software, build APIs and databases
• Conduct field tests of robotic software if needed
• Try new technologies that may make things better. We are not constrained by legacy code

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or a related technical field, or equivalent experience.
• Strong software engineer experienced with large-scale software systems
• Strong experience in C++ with a desire to learn new programming languages
• Programming experience in at least one script language such as Lua, Python or Matlab
• Familiarity with software collaboration tools (git, Jira, etc.)
• Good Linux knowledge
• Experience with writing tests
• Good understanding of math and ability to interpret research papers

• Master’s or further education
• Experience with GPU Programming (CUDA, OpenCL)
• Experience with ROS
• Interest in machine learning and AI
• Experience using machine learning platforms, tools and libraries (such as Tensorflow, Caffe, Kubernetes, Docker, Chainer, Ansible, Logstash, Amazon AWS, Google Cloud, etc.)
• Knowledge of Ethernet, Serial, CAN, FlexRay and other network protocols and their usage
• Experience with Unity or Unreal Engine or OpenGL
• Experience with AR/VR
• Contributions to Open Source projects

At Ascent, our Robotics Engineers are focused on developing the interface between our AI systems and the physical world transferring our research results into reality. They not only develop code but also make it work on our robotic arms, both real and virtual.

As a member of the Robotics Engineering Team, you'll work closely with software engineers and researchers on our diverse and stimulating range of projects including: designing robotic architectures, developing cutting edge algorithms and prototype applications, providing software design and programming support, along with implementing full robotic solutions. You won't spend all your time over your favorite IDE or editor though, we have plenty of hands-on work to validate our algorithms on real hardware.

At Ascent we are creating a passionate and engaging culture, combining the best of academia and product-led environments, providing a balance of structure and flexibility. Our approach encourages collaboration across all groups within the research team, leading to creativity and innovative breakthroughs at the forefront of robotics.

• Architect and implement software libraries
• Design, build and integrate robotic systems
• Provide software design and programming support to research projects
• Report and present software development status and project progress

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

• BSc/BEng degree in computer science, engineering, robotics, or equivalent
• Strong math and physics foundation
• Proficient in C/C++, with strong command of CS fundamentals
• Experience with Python
• Familiarity with software collaboration tools (git, Jira, etc.)
• Good Linux knowledge
• Self-motivated learner
• Experience at least one of the following robotic subjects:

• Computer vision (Conventional or Deep-Learning based)
• Control theory
• Numerical Optimization
• Sensor fusion
• Path planning (IK, A*, RRT, ...)

• Experience with a robotic middleware (ROS, ROS2, OpenRTM, Orocos, etc.)
• Industrial robots programming (FANUC KAREL, Kawasaki AS, Staübli VAL3, KUKA KRL, ABB RAPID...)
• Computer vision or perception (OpenCV, PCL, ...)
• Implementing machine learning software (with Tensorflow, Pytorch, Caffe...) or platforms (such as Kubeflow, Polyaxon, ...)
• Firmware/embedded systems engineering

• Master’s or further education
• Experience with GPU Programming (CUDA, OpenCL)
• Understanding of real-time operating systems constraints
• Interest in machine learning and AI
• Experience with automated testing and deployment (CI/CD) pipelines
• Strong debugging skills
• Interest in machine learning and AI
• Experience using machine learning platforms, tools and libraries
• Knowledge of Ethernet, Serial and other network protocols and their usage
• Experience with GAZEBO robot simulation
• Contributions to Open Source projects

In this role you will work on all business and project related activities to deliver an industry first, highly automated feature into a vehicle program for a leading robotic and autonomous driving startup in Japan. The Software features developed within this project are leading edge technology.

As the Project Manager in the Automated Driving team, you will report to the Head of the autonomous vehicle department. You lead the activities required to deliver a complex AI driven product within a distributed team to time and quality. The AV Project Manager will interface with all relevant functions from Engineering to Executive-Level. This is a customer facing role, which requires excellent communication and negotiation skills in english and japanese. The successful candidate has a strong AI, AV and project management background, to drive objectives and KPIs across the entire project organization. Reporting of project status both externally and internally is required using metrics for software development, delivery, test and resources. The AV Project Manager is also responsible to ensure system and software development, validation, and delivery according to guidelines and processes (e.g. ISO26262, Agile).

• Experience with complex product development (Safety Critical, Software and Hardware)
• Experience with software development projects using Agile Frameworks
• Experience in the management of distributed teams.
• Communication, customer engagement and negotiation skills
• Experience in AV and AI Project Management
• Japanese and English language skills
• Planning and Scheduling of key events and activities in accordance to overall program timing and gateways