Autonomy Engineer Intern - Simulation & Robotics 2027 (Zurich)

About the role

Skydio, a drone company focused on autonomous flight, is looking for a Research Intern in its computer vision and deep learning team in Zurich. The intern works alongside core software developers and takes direct ownership of a project that advances the capabilities of the team's autonomy algorithms and products. The work sits at the core of the system: the computer vision algorithms that let drones understand their surroundings.

Key responsibilities

• Design, implement and evolve the core architecture of the Skydio Simulator so it scales across vehicle types, environments and use cases.
• Improve physics models for vehicle motion, interaction with the environment and dynamic agents.
• Build high-fidelity simulations of cameras, IMUs and other onboard components, including timing, noise and hardware behavior.
• Run and validate the full autonomy stack in simulation, keeping simulated and real-world behavior consistent.
• Implement simulator features such as training scenarios and advanced testing modes.
• Profile, optimize and improve simulator performance while increasing realism and accuracy.
• Work closely with autonomy, perception and controls engineers to align simulation behavior with real systems, and help shape the simulator's long-term technical direction.

Required profile

• Strong software engineering experience with C++ and Python.
• Experience building complex systems where performance, determinism or correctness matters.
• Comfort reasoning about time-synchronized systems, state machines or real-time execution.
• Ability to work in a large, evolving codebase with multiple stakeholders.
• Interest in robotics, simulation or physical systems; prior robotics experience is a plus but not required.

Required skills

• C++ and Python
• Bonus: robotics, simulation, game engines or real-time systems
• Bonus: physics engines, sensor modeling, hardware abstraction layers, multithreaded or low-latency design, debugging software and physical behavior

What we offer

• Hourly compensation of $47 for undergraduates, $53 for masters and $70 for PhD students, depending on skill level, proficiencies and experience.
• Full-time employees can join benefit plans and access incentives and stipends.