Guidance Navigation and Controls (GNC) Engineer III - Project Based

This is a project-based employee role supporting the development, integration, and validation of ASI's autonomous dozer platforms. Development phases of this nature typically continue through project completion, often spanning two to four years, although scope and duration are determined by business and customer needs.

JOB SUMMARY

The Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Engineer III develops, integrates, and validates algorithms that enable ASI's autonomous dozers to navigate work sites, follow planned paths, maintain stable vehicle control, and complete earthmoving tasks accurately and safely. This role works with vehicle dynamics, localization, state estimation, trajectory planning, path tracking, and control systems to support reliable autonomous operation in challenging construction environments.

As a Level III engineer within ASI's five-level engineering structure, this position independently contributes to moderately complex GNC features and subsystem improvements while receiving guidance on broader architectural and system-level decisions. The role collaborates with perception, embedded software, systems, test, and field operations teams to improve autonomous dozer performance across uneven terrain, changing soil conditions, slopes, confined work areas, and active construction sites.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop, implement, integrate, and validate guidance, navigation, and control algorithms for autonomous dozer applications
• Contribute to vehicle motion control, path tracking, trajectory following, steering, propulsion, braking, and speed-control capabilities
• Develop and tune feedback-control algorithms to improve vehicle stability, accuracy, responsiveness, and operational performance
• Support navigation capabilities that allow autonomous dozers to move safely and efficiently through defined work areas
• Develop and improve localization and state-estimation solutions using GPS/GNSS, inertial sensors, wheel or track feedback, and other vehicle data
• Contribute to trajectory-generation and path-planning solutions for earthmoving, grading, cut-and-fill, site preparation, and related workflows
• Support integration between vehicle motion control, blade-control systems, perception outputs, and task-planning software
• Own defined GNC features and moderately complex assignments from development through integration, testing, and field validation
• Develop models of vehicle dynamics and system behavior to support controller design, simulation, and performance analysis
• Tune control parameters on physical equipment and evaluate performance across different terrain, payload, speed, and operating conditions
• Evaluate GNC performance using simulation, software-in-the-loop testing, hardware-in-the-loop testing, recorded-data replay, and full-machine field testing
• Establish measurable performance criteria for assigned features, including path accuracy, tracking error, stability, response time, and task completion
• Analyze vehicle logs and field data to identify performance limitations, control instability, localization errors, and edge cases
• Develop tools and scripts for simulation, data processing, visualization, automated testing, controller tuning, and performance analysis
• Troubleshoot issues involving control behavior, localization, vehicle interfaces, sensor timing, coordinate systems, and system integration
• Collaborate with perception engineers to ensure environmental and terrain information supports safe navigation and control decisions
• Work with embedded software engineers to integrate GNC algorithms into real-time vehicle-control systems
• Partner with test engineers and field testers to develop test procedures, reproduce issues, and verify corrective actions
• Participate in design reviews, code reviews, sprint planning, and technical investigations
• Document algorithms, mathematical models, software interfaces, assumptions, test results, and known system limitations
• Support customer demonstrations, field deployments, and troubleshooting activities as required

ESSENTIAL EDUCATION, WORK EXPERIENCE, JOB SKILLS

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Robotics, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field
• Typically five or more years of experience de