Robotics GNC Engineer

Crabi Robotics; Medford (MA); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Crabi Robotics seeks a Robotics GNC Engineer to develop sensing, localization, and control software for an autonomous marine hull-cleaning robot. You will transform prototype data into robust, production-ready software, focusing on state estimation and sensor integration to enable reliable operation on moving vessels.

The role blends software with real-world hardware, requiring insights into sensor failure modes, real-time performance, and cross-disciplinary collaboration to deliver flight-ready

Qualifications

• Strong fundamentals in robotics, controls, state estimation, or autonomous systems.
• Proficiency developing software in C++ and/or Python.
• Hands‑on experience integrating physical sensors into robotic or autonomous systems.
• Experience with sensor characterization, data filtering, state estimation, or sensor fusion.
• Ability to analyze imperfect real-world sensor data and translate prototype algorithms into reliable software.
• Experience developing, testing, and debugging software that interacts directly with physical hardware.
• 1–7 years of relevant professional experience OR substantial graduate-level research or student engineering experience.

Responsibilities

• Develop and deploy localization, state estimation, navigation, and control software for an autonomous marine robot.
• Take new sensors from prototype data collection through characterization, filtering, fusion, integration, and production-ready software.
• Design algorithms that combine inertial, wheel odometry, vision, and other vehicle sensors to estimate robot state in challenging real-world environments.
• Develop simulation, Software-in-the-Loop (SIL), and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) tests to validate GNC software before deployment.
• Define requirements, interfaces, failure modes, and performance metrics for vehicle sensors and GNC subsystems.
• Analyze real-world vehicle data to identify failure modes, improve algorithms, and close the loop between testing and software development.
• Design and execute system tuning, verification, and on-vehicle testing.
• Work closely with mechanical, electrical, firmware, and test engineers to integrate GNC software with vehicle hardware.

Skills

Robotics

C++/Python

Sensor fusion

State estimation

ROS/ROS2

Real-time OS

Autonomous systems

Hardware interfacing

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Git

Linux

MATLAB/Simulink

Job description

We are seeking a Robotics GNC Engineer to join our GNC team in developing the sensing, localization, and control software for a novel hull-crawling marine robot. You will help take sensors and algorithms from prototype data through robust, flight-ready software, with a particular focus on state estimation, sensor integration, simulation, and verification.

The role requires thinking across the boundary between software and the physical vehicle: understanding how sensors fail, how the robot behaves in the real world, and how to build autonomy that remains reliable outside of the lab.

CRABI is building autonomous robots that live aboard commercial ships and clean their hulls while they are underway. Marine biofouling creates enormous hydrodynamic drag, forcing ships to burn more fuel to maintain speed. By keeping hulls continuously clean, our robots can eliminate a major source of wasted energy across the global fleet—reducing fuel consumption, operating costs, and ultimately maritime CO2 emissions by more than 100 million tons per year.

Doing that requires robots that can reliably navigate and operate on the hull of a moving ship, underwater, for long periods without human intervention. Our GNC team owns the software that turns noisy sensors and imperfect hardware into a robot that knows where it is, knows how it is moving, and can safely execute its mission. You will work directly with the broader CRABI engineering team to take that system from prototype to deployed product.

US work authorization is a precondition of employment. The company will not consider candidates who require sponsorship for a work-authorized visa, now or in the future.

Job Responsibilities:

• Develop and deploy localization, state estimation, navigation, and control software for an autonomous marine robot.
• Take new sensors from prototype data collection through characterization, filtering, fusion, integration, and production-ready software.
• Design algorithms that combine inertial, wheel odometry, vision, and other vehicle sensors to estimate robot state in challenging real-world environments.
• Develop simulation, Software-in-the-Loop (SIL), and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) tests to validate GNC software before deployment.
• Define requirements, interfaces, failure modes, and performance metrics for vehicle sensors and GNC subsystems.
• Analyze real-world vehicle data to identify failure modes, improve algorithms, and close the loop between testing and software development.
• Design and execute system tuning, verification, and on-vehicle testing.
• Work closely with mechanical, electrical, firmware, and test engineers to integrate GNC software with vehicle hardware.

Required Qualifications:

• Strong fundamentals in robotics, controls, state estimation, or autonomous systems.
• Proficiency developing software in C++ and/or Python.
• Hands‑on experience integrating physical sensors into robotic or autonomous systems.
• Experience with sensor characterization, data filtering, state estimation, or sensor fusion.
• Ability to analyze imperfect real-world sensor data and translate prototype algorithms into reliable software.
• Experience developing, testing, and debugging software that interacts directly with physical hardware.
• 1–7 years of relevant professional experience OR substantial graduate-level research or student engineering experience.
• Able to start full time ASAP.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with Kalman filtering, inertial navigation, wheel odometry, visual odometry, SLAM, or related estimation techniques.
• Experience developing Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) or Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) test systems.
• Experience with ROS or ROS 2.
• Experience with real-time or embedded robotic software.
• Experience designing automated tests, fault injection, or verification infrastructure for autonomous systems.
• Experience working with marine robotics, field robotics, autonomous vehicles, aerospace systems, or other hardware operating in difficult environments.
• Experience on a hands‑on student engineering team such as FSAE Driverless, rocketry, UAVs, robotics, or similar.
• A graduate degree with research in robotics, controls, estimation, autonomous systems, or a related field.