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David Careers

Field Robotics/Autonomy Engineer

Posted 4 days ago

pluton resource intelligenceArlington (VA)
Robotics EngineersGeophysical Surveying and Mapping Services

SENIORITY

Lead

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About the role

Founding Field Robotics/Autonomy Engineer Remote · Founding role · Equity-first · US Citizens OnlyPLEASE APPLY HERE https://www.pluton.earth/careers/founding-autonomy-engineerAbout the role Pluton builds probabilistic 2D and 3D models that show exploration geologists what's likely underground, how sure we are, and where to drill next. We then aim to "close the loop" by deploying field robotics (drones + rovers) which gather the highest Value-of-Information data autonomously. We are looking for a talented, ambitious, and multi-faceted engineer who can take charge of our field robotics development, deployment, and autonomy functionalites. You will work directly with the other cofounders, the NOUS and CARTA teams, and the aerial and ground platform engineers. This is a cofounder role with significant equity and direct influence over how the system is architected. Think you’re a fit? /careers with your resume (PDF) and optionally a cover letter!
Responsibilities:
  • Acting on Value of Information
  • Turn NOUS's ranked survey blocks into survey designs: line spacing, line direction, altitude and tie lines
  • Work with the NOUS team on when a block needs re-flying and how field constraints should affect its score
  • Mission & Path Planning
  • Plan terrain-following survey missions around real constraints: endurance, battery swaps, terrain, airspace and sensor geometry
  • Use or build on survey planning tools such as UgCS and the autopilot's native mission format
  • Command & Coordinate Generation
  • Convert CARTA block geometries into executable waypoints and sensor triggers (lat, lon, alt)
  • Own the coordinate-frame and geodesy work that aligns model space with the real world
  • Sensor Integration
  • Integrate geophysical and geochemical sensors onto our aerial and ground platforms, starting with the magnetometer and adding instruments like portable XRFHandle each sensor's mounting, power, timing, logging and calibration, and build its data path into NOUSSurvey Data Processing
  • Process drone magnetics: remove platform noise, apply base-station diurnal corrections, level flight lines and grid the result
  • Run in-field QC so bad lines are re-flown before the crew leaves site
  • Systems Integration & Autonomy StackMake CARTA, NOUS, PX4/ArduPilot controllers and sensing payloads interoperate over ROS2 and MAVLinkAutomate the full loop from a NOUS recommendation to processed data back in NOUSSimulation & Field Deployment
  • Validate missions in simulation against synthetic ground, then deploy and test on real hardware
  • Fly multi-week field campaigns, starting on the Arabian Shield, including field repairs and payload swaps
Ideal Background:
  • Core experience
  • Planned, flown, and processed real drone survey missions
  • Wrote the software that connects mission planning, flight, and data processing
Processed drone survey data (magnetics strongly preferred). Hold an FAA Part 107 certificate or get one in your first months. Technical skills Hands-on with an autonomy stack: PX4 or ArduPilot, ROS2, MAVLink. Comfortable with coordinate frames and geodesy.
Nice to have:
  • Informative path planning or adaptive sampling
  • UgCSIntegrating sensors onto drones or robots
  • Strong in Python and geospatial data
  • Enough statistics to interpret a Bayesian model's value-of-information output and push back on survey design (you won't need to build the model).Not required
  • Reinforcement learning.
  • GPS-denied navigation.
  • Knowledge of geophysical and geochemical instruments (you'll learn these here).
Who you are:
  • Where you might come from
  • Field robotics or adaptive-sampling labs (e.g., CMU, MIT–WHOI, Stanford).Autonomous science groups (e.g., NASA JPL).Drone geophysics or unexploded-ordnance (UXO) survey firms.
  • Robotics or drone startups in the defense or resource monitoring space.
  • Mission fit
  • A strong passion for working on problems that matter at a national and civilizational scale. This counts as much as technical depth.
  • A flexible thinker, willing to adapt and evolve as the boundary conditions do. Someone who is ready to join a tight nit team and build something at the cutting edge.
Compensation & Eligibility: This is a cofounder role with significant equity at an early-stage company. Compensation is equity-based until our next funding round, which we are actively closing. Upon funding, the role transitions to a full salary and equity package commensurate with a cofounder. Candidates must be US citizens. This requirement is non-negotiable and is tied to the nature of our technology and the industries we operate in.
Why This Role Matters: Critical minerals underpin the supply chains of modern civilization. Copper, lithium, rare earth elements, and other strategic materials power energy infrastructure, electric transportation, advanced manufacturing, and computing systems. Yet discovering new mineral deposits remains slow and uncertain. Pluton is building a system that can autonomously find, validate, and guide the extraction of these minerals at a speed and scale the industry has never seen. This role connects that system’s model to its robots in both directions: it sends the drone to take the measurement that will tell us the most, and it returns that measurement to the model quickly enough to choose the next one. Think you’re a fit? /careers with your resume (PDF) and optionally a cover letter!

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