Robotics Software Engineer – Onboard Autonomy

at  SPACE APPLICATIONS SERVICES

POSITION

The position involves engaging in the development of multi-agent mission planning for robotics systems. The successful candidate will be involved in the analysis, simulation, development, and testing of coordinated task and path planning for multi-agent systems, with integration into both offline control centres and onboard robotic platforms for real-time operations.
The position is central to projects spanning marine, terrestrial, and planetary robotics, contributing to applied research initiatives and on European Space Agency (ESA), European Commission (EC), as well as defence and commercial projects.
The successful candidate will be part of the Robotics, Software & Intelligence (RSI) Team.

The candidate will mainly report to the RSI Team Lead.

• Location: Sint-Stevens-Woluwe (Brussels Area)
• Start date: As of November 2024

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• MSc or PhD in relevant fields (e.g. AI/Machine Learning, robotics, computer science, software engineering)
• Strong theoretical and practical background in:
• Classical AI and/or optimisation techniques
• Operational research
• Planning domain description
• Ontology based knowledge representation
• Semantic reasoning - applied to multi-robot mission planning paradigms
• Very strong programming skills (C++, Python) on Linux environment and Git tools
• Thorough experience of Software development in ROS and simulation in Gazebo
• Strength to cope with schedules and deadlines
• Fluent in English, both spoken and written with good skills in technical documentation delivery.

ABOUT US

Space Applications Services is a company at the forefront of space technology development and the provision of services for human spaceflight, exploration and earth observation missions. Headquartered in Belgium (Brussels Area), with a research office in the Netherlands and a subsidiary in the USA, the company provides solutions for both commercial and institutional customers. We work with clients such as the European Space Agency, the European Commission, governmental and national space agencies as well as the major space industries.
The company develops payloads, avionics, robotics technology and products, and provides complete mission operations control centre solutions to EN9100 standards. The company also provides engineering, science and training services, including astronaut training. From our headquarters, we are in daily contact with the International Space Station (ISS) ensuring our Customers’ research is successful.

• Analyse and develop offline and online mission planning techniques composed of goal decomposition, tasks allocation, path/trajectory planning and adaptation to dynamic events using Artificial Intelligence (AI) or optimisation approaches
• Develop command, control & intelligence software applications with integrated mission planning
• Participate in the end-to-end implementation with testing, integration and optimisation of target robot architecture
• Implement the developed technologies in the in-house robotic control centre and integrate them with mobile and underwater robots
• Generate the technical documentation required all along the process.