About the role
We are looking for a Sensing and Perception Engineer to own Wardstone’s entire sensing system from sensor selection and integration to low-level image pipelines to real-time target tracking. You will work at the intersection of sensor hardware, computer vision algorithms, embedded systems, optics, and vehicle guidance.
This role is central to Wardstone’s mission. Your system determine whether an interceptor knows where to go!
You will work directly with founders, build test rigs, run high-speed experiments, and ship perception systems into hardware that performs real intercepts.
What You’ll Do
IR & EO Sensor Integration
- Integrate sensor modules into avionics architecture.
- Own sensor selection, FOV analysis, lensing, NUC, calibration workflows, and driver integration.
- Develop high-reliability camera interfaces: SPI/I2C, MIPI, USB3, Ethernet, GMSL, or custom buses.
Real-Time Computer Vision & Tracking
- Build perception pipelines capable of tracking high-speed objects with extremely low latency.
- Implement target detection, centroid extraction, filtering, gating, and motion-compensation algorithms.
- Develop robust tracking under noise, flare, thermal clutter, high dynamic range, and glint effects.
Sensor Fusion & Estimation
- Fuse IR/EO data with IMU, GPS, and onboard state estimators.
- Work with controls engineers to build perception-to-guidance interfaces for closed loop control.
- Build EKF/UKF filters, temporal alignment, and prediction modules.
Verification & Validation
- Design sensor test rigs: hot/cold targets, blackbody references, collimators, high-G mounts.
