Autonomous Drone & Robot Perception Research Specialist

KAUST; Thuwal; On-site; SAR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) invites applications for postdoc positions in the Physical Science and Engineering Division. The role centers on integrating colloidal camera-based sensing into drone payloads and robotic platforms to enable next-generation perception capabilities.

The Research Specialist will help develop AI-enabled, sensor-rich autonomous drones with a strong focus on real-world deployment, remote sensing, and field validation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field.
• Robotics systems (ROS/ROS2)
• Drone/UAV platforms and flight operations
• Sensor integration and embedded systems
• Proficiency in Python and/or C++.

Responsibilities

• Integrate colloidal camera-based sensing technologies into payloads for aerial and robotic platforms.
• Design and develop multi-sensor systems combining LiDAR, radar, and imaging.
• Engineer and optimize gimbal-integrated sensor platforms for stabilized data acquisition.
• Ensure seamless integration with different drone platforms using SDKs and embedded systems.
• Develop and deploy autonomous flight workflows, including waypoint navigation, mapping, and inspection missions.
• Integrate payloads into DJI-based UAV systems for real-world applications.
• Implement onboard data processing pipelines using edge computing platforms (e.g., NVIDIA Jetson).
• Optimize system performance considering payload constraints, power consumption, and environmental conditions.
• Develop and extend ROS2-based robotic autonomy frameworks for remote inspection of solar modules.
• Implement multimodal perception and AI-driven control systems, including language-guided interaction for remote inspection of solar modules.
• Contribute to human–robot interaction systems for intuitive mission control.
• Design and deploy robotic systems for field safety applications, including autonomous surveillance and infrastructure inspection.
• Develop AI-based anomaly detection systems leveraging multimodal sensor data.

Skills

Robotics systems (ROS/ROS2)

Drone/UAV platforms

Sensor integration

Python

C++

Edge AI platforms

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field

Tools

DJI SDK

NVIDIA Jetson

PyTorch

OpenCV

ROS/ROS2

Job description

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) invites applications for postdoc positions in the Physical Science and Engineering Division. The role centers on integrating colloidal camera-based sensing into drone payloads and robotic platforms to enable next-generation perception capabilities.

The Research Specialist will help develop AI-enabled, sensor-rich autonomous drones with a strong focus on real-world deployment, remote sensing, and field validation.