Sensor Systems Intern

Job Description

Robotics Systems Intern – Sensor Platform | PlusAI

The Tone:
This is an internship at PlusAI, a Physical AI company pioneering AI-based virtual driver software for factory-built autonomous trucks, headquartered in Silicon Valley. This role is crucial for evaluating and optimizing production-intended sensors for these autonomous trucks. The intern will work across hardware and software boundaries to characterize sensor behavior, improve time synchronization, and integrate safety features into the platform. This position offers an opportunity to make a direct impact on the future of autonomous trucking.

The TL;DR
• Role: Internship
• Location: In-person, Silicon Valley
• Pay: $19–$65 hourly
• Mission: This intern will evaluate and optimize production-intended sensors for autonomous trucks, improving their performance and integration into the platform.
• Tech Stack: C++, C, Python, Linux, tcpdump, Wireshark

What You’ll Actually Do
• Design and execute sensor evaluation experiments for LiDARs, radars, and other sensors used in the production stack.
• Characterize sensor behavior, including bandwidth, latency, jitter, and packet loss for various configurations.
• Analyze and improve multi-sensor time synchronization (PTP/gPTP, NIC hardware timestamps) and phase alignment.
• Contribute to sensor driver and data pipeline improvements using C++ and Python.
• Support integration of sensor safety concepts, such as health monitoring, and build tooling to visualize sensor performance.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Student with a strong interest in systems-level performance, including profiling, bottleneck analysis, and latency measurement.
• Experience: Capturing and analyzing sensor traffic using tools like tcpdump, Wireshark, or custom logging pipelines.
• Skills: Strong coding skills in C++ and/or C and Python; Comfortable working in Linux (shell, compiling, debugging, log inspection); Strong interest in systems-level performance.
• Bonus: Familiarity with systems concepts like data structures, algorithms, and networking fundamentals (UDP/TCP, ports, sockets); Familiarity with robotics or sensor systems (LiDAR, radar, IMU, cameras) through projects, coursework, or hobbies; Strong analytical and communication skills to derive actionable insights from data.