Robotics Middleware Engineer – UAV Systems (m/w/d)

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and harden the ROS 2 middleware layer: message schemas, QoS profiles, routing, callback prioritization, and dedicated executors by criticality.
• Make data move reliably from sensors → fusion/perception → planning/actuation: time sync (PTP/NTP), timestamps, clean frames/TF, rosbag replay for debugging.
• Realise a modular and extensible sensor I/O & fusion framework: drivers/bridges, message conversions, composable pipelines.
• Integrate hardware components on Jetson/ARM: bring‑up GNSS/IMU/cameras/LiDAR/radar, tune I/O buses (CSI/USB/Ethernet), manage power/thermals.
• Liaise with computer‑vision and acoustics experts: expose stable interfaces, define latency budgets, and service contracts (topics, rates, QoS).
• Evaluate and select middleware options (DDS, transports, codecs, HW acceleration) under latency and reliability constraints.
• Keep track of the ROS 2/middleware ecosystem & best practices (executors, tracing, security, observability) and drive continuous improvements.
• Ensure consistently high quality of the overall detection & tracking pipeline: via end‑to‑end integration tests, embedded CI/CD, metrics, and alerting.

What You’ll Work With

• ROS 2 (rclcpp, lifecycle, rosbag2, tracing), DDS (QoS profiles), C++17/20
• Jetson Orin/Xavier, CUDA/TensorRT, V4L2/GStreamer
• Embedded Linux, colcon, Docker/Podman, Git (PRs/reviews), CI/CD

Qualifications

• University degree in Computer Science, Informatics, Math, Physics, etc.
• Relevant experience with C++
• Experience with frameworks such as Eigen, Ceres, GTSAM (preferred)
• Bonus: Rust experience
• Experience with ROS (2), OpenCV (very useful)
• Strong knowledge of C++ concepts: memory management, multithreading (executors, callback groups; lock‑free where sensible), error/exception handling, contracts, retries, watchdogs.
• Experience evaluating and using DDS middlewares (CycloneDDS, Fast DDS, Connext) and related QoS, executors, deadlines, liveliness, intra‑process communication.
• Knowledge of other robotics frameworks (ROS 1, DDS native or custom solutions, GStreamer, LCM/LCMS, ZeroMQ, etc.)
• Experience with NVIDIA Jetson platforms: memory management (CPU/GPU, pinned memory, zero‑copy), HW accelerators (CUDA/TensorRT/VPI), sensor acquisition interfaces (CSI/MIPI, USB3, Ethernet, CAN, SPI).
• Intrinsic motivation, willingness to go the extra mile, attention to detail.
• Creative, conceptual & systematic design thinking.
• Fluent in English or German.
• Nationality of a NATO member nation or close ally is a must.

Nice to Have

• RT‑preempt, cgroups/CPU pinning, DDS Security, GMSL/MIPI bring‑up, CAN/UDP custom protocols
• Exposure to PX4/ArduPilot/MAVLink for autopilot interfacing (optional)