Camera Pipeline and Image Quality Engineer

Bedrock Robotics; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Bedrock Robotics seeks a Camera Pipeline and Image Quality Engineer to own the full camera pipeline from drivers to ISP tuning, ensuring usable imagery for ML perception and teleoperation across lighting conditions. You will work with embedded teams to drive performance on rugged construction platforms.

Ideal candidates have 8+ years in ISP tuning and embedded camera systems, with strong C/C++ or Python skills and hands-on experience with V4L2, MIPI CSI-2, and GMSL.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in embedded camera systems, ISP tuning, image quality engineering, or closely related roles.
• Ability to diagnose and improve image quality on fielded hardware.
• Comfort with driver-level debugging and real-time constraints on embedded compute platforms.
• Experience writing or integrating embedded camera drivers and exposing ISP controls to software stacks.
• Familiarity with camera data pipelines and frame synchronization on embedded platforms.
• Knowledge of radiometry, SNR, and photon budgeting as they relate to ISP tuning.
• Proven ability to characterize, diagnose, and improve camera image quality in real-world scenarios.

Responsibilities

• Own the camera pipeline end to end: diagnose image quality failures, tune ISP parameters, and validate improvements across the operating radiometric range.
• Own embedded camera driver development and integration: register-level control, frame synchronization, and interfaces to the autonomy stack.
• Characterize ISP pipeline behavior from first principles: root-cause analysis using histogram, raw vs. processed comparisons, and controlled scenes.
• Tune exposure, white balance, HDR sub-frame ratios, tone mapping, and noise reduction to optimize for ML perception and teleoperation.
• Establish and run test protocols to confirm improvements without harming daytime model performance or training data compatibility.
• Collaborate with perception, autonomy, and sensing teams to translate constraints into ISP targets.
• Debug camera issues from sensor/ISP registers to captured imagery in lab and field.
• Define image quality characterization methodologies (SFR/MTF, noise, dynamic range) and track across hardware generations.
• Manage relationships with ISP, camera module, and embedded compute vendors.

Skills

ISP tuning

Embedded camera systems

Image quality engineering

C/C++ / Python

Camera drivers

ROS2 / autonomy middleware

Data analysis

Hardware debugging

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Optical Engineering, Physics

Tools

V4L2

MIPI CSI-2

GMSL

I2C

Job description

Join the team bringing advanced autonomy to the built world

At Bedrock, we're moving AI out of the lab and into the real world. Our team includes veterans who helped launch Waymo, scaled Segment to a $3.2B acquisition, and grew Uber Freight to $5B in revenue. Today, we're deploying autonomous systems on heavy construction equipment across the country, improving safety on job sites and accelerating schedules on critical infrastructure projects.
We're not here debating the future of AI. We're deploying it in the real world. In just two years, we've raised $350M and achieved the first fully autonomous excavator deployments in construction.
This is where algorithms meet steel-toed boots. You'll work alongside construction veterans and world-class engineers to solve physical-world problems that simulations can't touch. If you're ready to do meaningful work on hard problems, we'd love to have you join us.

We are a group of veterans from the autonomous vehicle industry who are passionate about bringing the benefits of automation to areas in the construction industry currently underserved by the market. Cameras power our autonomy stack on rugged construction machines across all lighting conditions, from full sun to complete darkness, in scenes with high dynamic range, dust, glare, and unpredictable site lighting. We are looking for a Camera Pipeline and Image Quality Engineer to own the full camera pipeline: from embedded drivers and data interfaces through ISP tuning, ensuring our cameras deliver usable imagery for both ML perception models and human teleoperation across a wide range of lighting conditions.

Key Qualifications

• Hands-on experience tuning ISP pipelines on real hardware (auto exposure, auto white balance, tone mapping, demosaicing, noise reduction, and HDR fusion) with a track record of diagnosing and correcting failure modes such as AE anchoring on bright point sources, aggressive HDR sub-frame ratio compression, and tone mapping that crushes scene content in mixed-light environments

• Deep familiarity with AE algorithm internals: histogram weighting, metering zone selection, exposure ratio control in multi-exposure HDR pipelines, and lux estimation, and how these interact with scenes containing simultaneously very bright and very dark content

• Hands-on experience writing or integrating embedded camera drivers (V4L2, MIPI CSI-2, GMSL, I2C) and building the tooling and software interfaces that expose ISP and imager control to an autonomy software stack

• Familiarity with camera data pipelines on embedded platforms: frame synchronization, timestamping, compression, bandwidth management, and integration with autonomy middleware (ROS2 or similar)

• Understanding of how ISP tuning choices affect downstream ML/perception model performance, and experience validating that pipeline changes do not degrade existing model behavior

• Working knowledge of camera sensor fundamentals (CMOS architecture, shutter types, CFA patterns, dynamic range, sensitivity, and binning) sufficient to reason about how sensor choice and configuration interact with ISP behavior

• Working knowledge of radiometry sufficient to interpret photon budget models, SNR predictions, and motion-blur constraints as inputs to ISP tuning requirements

• Strong data analysis skills, including experience working with large datasets, building quantitative models, and using statistical methods to characterize real-world system behavior

• 8+ years of relevant industry experience in ISP tuning, embedded camera systems, image quality engineering, or closely related roles

Responsibilities

• Own the camera pipeline end to end: diagnose image quality failures, tune ISP parameters, and validate improvements across the full operating radiometric range from bright daylight to night with machine-mounted illumination

• Own embedded camera driver development and integration: register-level control, frame synchronization, and software interfaces that expose runtime ISP parameter control to the autonomy stack

• Characterize existing ISP pipeline behavior from first principles: identify root causes of image quality failures using parameter-level access, histogram analysis, raw vs processed frame comparison, and controlled test scenes

• Tune ISP and imager settings (exposure, white balance, HDR sub-frame ratios, tone mapping, noise reduction) to optimize image quality for both ML perception models and remote assistance/teleoperation

• Establish and run test protocols that confirm ISP changes improve low-light performance without adversely affecting existing daytime model performance or training data compatibility

• Work closely with perception, autonomy, and sensing engineering to translate scene and platform constraints (yaw rates, lux levels, detection ranges) into concrete ISP tuning targets

• Debug camera issues from sensor/ISP register state through to captured imagery, both in the lab and in the field

• Define and drive image quality characterization methodologies (SFR/MTF, noise, dynamic range, photon transfer curves) and track performance across hardware and ISP firmware generations

• Manage relationships with ISP, camera module, and embedded compute vendors

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Optical Engineering, Physics, or a related field

• 8+ years of experience in embedded camera systems, ISP tuning, image quality engineering, or closely related roles with a strong pipeline focus

• Demonstrated ability to characterize, diagnose, and improve camera image quality on fielded hardware

• Embedded systems experience: comfort at the hardware/software boundary, driver-level debugging, and working with real-time constraints on embedded compute platforms

• Comfortable working in C/C++ and/or Python for driver-level work, tooling, and test automation

Ways to Stand Out From the Field

• Experience diagnosing and correcting AE anchoring and HDR tone mapping failures in scenes with extreme intra-frame contrast: retroreflective surfaces, direct artificial light sources, or simultaneous deep shadow and bright highlights

• Experience with construction, off-road, automotive, or other outdoor autonomous/robotic platforms operating in harsh environments (dust, vibration, wide temperature range, direct sunlight and full dark)

• Experience with automotive-grade high-speed camera interfaces (GMSL, FPD-Link, MIPI CSI-2) and embedded compute platforms (e.g. Nvidia Jetson/Orin) in a production or near-production deployment context

• Experience with camera systems that must simultaneously serve human viewing (teleoperation/remote assistance) and ML/perception model consumption

• Familiarity with co-designing active illumination systems (NIR/visible, pulsed/continuous) alongside ISP tuning

• Familiarity with IEC 60825-1 eye safety analysis for machine-mounted illuminators

Bedrock Robotics is an Equal Opportunity Employer

We’re committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. We consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other protected characteristic.

Reasonable Accommodations

We want our hiring process to be accessible to everyone. If you need an accommodation to participate in the application or interview process, please let your recruiter know so we can support you.