Perception Engineer III

The Perception Engineer III develops and advances perception systems that enable ASI's autonomous reach stackers to understand container-yard environments, detect and track surrounding objects, identify containers and stacking locations, and safely perform material-handling operations. This role works with cameras, LiDAR, radar, GPS/GNSS, inertial sensors, and other sensing technologies to support environmental awareness, container detection, equipment tracking, precision alignment, obstacle avoidance, and autonomous task execution. As a Level III engineer within ASI's five-level engineering structure, this position independently leads complex perception features and subsystem initiatives from technical definition through integration and field validation. The role influences perception architecture, resolves difficult cross-system problems, and provides technical guidance to other engineers while collaborating with GNC, embedded software, systems, test, and field operations teams. Broader platform strategy and organization-wide technical direction remain aligned with engineering leadership and Level IV technical authorities.

Responsibilities

Design, develop, integrate, and validate advanced perception algorithms for autonomous reach stacker applications; Lead complex perception features involving object detection, classification, segmentation, tracking, obstacle detection, free-space identification, and environmental modeling; Develop capabilities for detecting and tracking shipping containers, trucks, trailers, chassis, reach stackers, personnel, buildings, fences, and other yard objects; Develop perception solutions that support container identification, stack-position recognition, pickup and placement verification, and precision vehicle alignment; Process and fuse data from cameras, LiDAR, radar, GPS/GNSS, inertial sensors, encoders, and other vehicle systems; Develop environmental models that support navigation, motion planning, container handling, stacking, loading, unloading, and yard-management workflows; Lead defined perception workstreams from requirements development through architecture, implementation, integration, testing, and release; Contribute to perception architecture and technical design decisions for autonomous reach stacker platforms; Establish technical approaches, performance metrics, and acceptance criteria for complex perception capabilities; Integrate perception software with autonomous vehicle platforms, embedded computing systems, vehicle interfaces, and supporting autonomy software; Evaluate perception performance using recorded datasets, simulation, software-in-the-loop testing, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and full-vehicle field validation; Analyze large datasets to identify false detections, missed detections, tracking failures, alignment errors, environmental limitations, and system-level edge cases; Develop and improve automated workflows for data collection, labeling, replay, regression testing, visualization, and performance analysis; Lead troubleshooting of complex issues involving sensor calibration, timing, synchronization, coordinate transformations, vehicle movement, computing performance, and system integration; Guide sensor selection, placement, mounting, configuration, calibration, and validation activities on reach stacker platforms; Optimize perception algorithms for real-time execution on embedded CPUs, GPUs, and other computing platforms; Collaborate with GNC engineers to ensure perception outputs support safe navigation, motion planning, obstacle avoidance, container approach, and precision positioning; Partner with systems engineers to define interfaces, requirements, failure responses, and operational constraints for perception subsystems; Work with test engineers and field testers to develop comprehensive validation scenarios for container yards and intermodal environments; Investigate difficult field failures and lead the development and verification of corrective actions; Conduct design reviews and code reviews while providing technical feedback to other engineers; Mentor less-experienced engineers and support improvements to engineering practices, development tools, and team standards; Communicate technical risks, system limitations, findings, and recommendations to engineering teams and leadership; Document algorithms, architectures, interfaces, assumptions, test results, technical decisions, and known system limitations; Support customer demonstrations, field deployments, acceptance testing, and troubleshooting activities as required

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Mathematics, or a related technical field; Typically eight or more years of experience developing perception, computer vision, robotics, machine learning, sensor-fusion, or autonomous-system software; Advanced proficiency in C++ and Python; Demonstrated experience independently developing and delivering complex perception features for robotic or autonomous systems; Strong experience with computer vision, point-cloud processing, sensor fusion, object tracking, environmental modeling, or machine-learning algorithms; Experience working with cameras, LiDAR, radar, GPS/GNSS, inertial sensors, or other robotic sensing technologies; Strong understanding of coordinate systems, geometric transformations, sensor calibration, data synchronization, and three-dimensional geometry; Experience designing software interfaces and integrating perception components into complex hardware and software systems; Experience developing and optimizing real-time software for embedded or constrained computing platforms; Advanced experience working in Linux-based software-development environments; Experience with ROS, ROS2, or comparable robotics middleware; Experience developing production-quality software using version control, peer review, automated testing, continuous integration, and configuration-management practices; Ability to define meaningful performance metrics and use large datasets to evaluate perception-system performance; Demonstrated ability to diagnose and resolve complex software, sensor, computing, and system-integration issues; Ability to provide technical guidance and constructive feedback to other engineers; Strong analytical, debugging, and technical problem-solving skills; Strong written and verbal communication skills; Ability to work effectively with engineering, operations, customer-facing, and field-testing teams

Nice to have

Master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Machine Learning, or a related discipline; Experience developing perception systems for autonomous reach stackers, container-handling equipment, industrial vehicles, heavy equipment, or mobile robots; Familiarity with container yards, ports, intermodal terminals, distribution centers, or material-handling operations; Experience with container detection, identification, pose estimation, stack-position recognition, or precision alignment applications; Familiarity with reach stacker spreaders, twistlocks, container pickup and placement, stacking workflows, or chassis-handling operations; Experience with OpenCV, Point Cloud Library, PyTorch, TensorFlow, CUDA, TensorRT, or similar technologies; Experience developing machine-learning solutions for detection, segmentation, classification, depth estimation, pose estimation, or tracking; Experience with LiDAR point-cloud registration, filtering, clustering, mapping, and object detection; Experience with multi-object tracking, occupancy grids, free-space detection, semantic mapping, or environmental modeling; Familiarity with Kalman filtering, Bayesian estimation, probabilistic robotics, or other sensor-fusion methods; Experience optimizing software for GPUs, embedded computers, or real-time systems; Experience with simulation, recorded-data replay, software-in-the-loop testing, and hardware-in-the-loop testing; Familiarity with functional safety principles and validation practices for autonomous or safety-critical systems; Experience validating autonomous systems in industrial, outdoor, low-light, high-traffic, dusty, or weather-exposed environments

Benefits

401k with employer match; Generous HSA contribution; PTO, paid holidays, and flextime; ASI covers 90% of employee medical plan costs