Spatial Planning Intern
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Job Description
About Zipline:
Zipline is a company focused on revolutionizing goods movement by creating the world’s first instant logistics system for equitable access. They utilize cutting-edge autonomous delivery drones, leveraging expertise in robotics and autonomy, to deliver essential goods, primarily healthcare supplies, to tens of millions of people globally. Their mission is to address complex access challenges and provide equal service to all. The company emphasizes internships as opportunities for meaningful contributions and real-world skill development, not just low-level tasks.
About The Spatial Planning Team:
The Spatial Planning Team at Zipline develops the long-term, scalable solutions enabling rapid expansion of drone delivery services to new countries and regions. They build tools and services that generate the data and plans used by Zipline’s drones for their missions. Their work defines flight paths, constraints, and provides crucial information for the drones’ real-time navigation systems, ensuring safe and efficient operations.
Job Description:
This internship offers the opportunity to contribute directly to Zipline’s Spatial Planning stack. Responsibilities include:
• Developing and maintaining containerized services: Generating spatial planning artifacts for drone operations.
• Utilizing GeoData tools: Visualizing and analyzing land features to assess serviceability for drone delivery.
• Collaborating with teams: Enhancing accessibility of spatial data globally.
• Improving planning algorithms: Optimizing routing for speed and reliability.
• Building systems for geoindexing and geo-accessing: Ensuring instantaneous access to spatial constraints.
• Adapting spatial planning: Modifying existing systems to accommodate varying costs and models, and building the infrastructure to support cost-based route optimization.
The work involves practical application of theoretical path planning algorithms, interaction between data and spatial search for efficient routing, and addressing real-world challenges. The ideal candidate thrives in startup environments, is adaptable, and eager to learn about various aspects of Zipline’s spatial planning processes. Examples of past intern projects include prototyping new path planning algorithms, integrating risk data into routing engines, creating tools for generating digital elevation models, and building infrastructure for drone-based area surveys.
