Internship UAV Controls Engineer

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Details

Preferred starting date: ASAP

Weekly availability: full-time (5 days/week)

Location: Aerospace Innovation Hub, Delft, the Netherlands

About the company

Fiducial is a young but fast-growing deep-tech start-up with big ambitions at the frontier of autonomy, perception, and defence. Our core expertise lies in 3D vision and graphics technologies which we deploy in a dual-use context for inspection and defence. This role will initially focus mainly on the defence context where we are developing software for advanced on-board UAV situational awareness in military applications. Our solutions are aimed to operate with low-cost and widely available sensors and compute. From there, we plan to develop a line-up of interconnected solutions to safeguard European safety.

Our team consists of engineers that are passionate about the technology and solutions they develop. The only time most of us are not thinking about the technology is when we are asleep, and sometimes even then. Our team members have a background in different fields such as Aerospace Engineering, Computational Science and Engineering, Robotics, and Computer Graphics. Our office is located in the Aerospace Innovation Hub, a start-up hub located on the TU Delft campus in the faculty of Aerospace Engineering.

We work closely with top-tier partners, ranging from government agencies and prime contractors to academic research institutes and other start-ups. Our projects span from large tender orders in collaboration with partners, low TRL research with government agencies, to direct collaboration with military units. Whether through formal R&D programs or rapid prototyping tracks, we operate at the intersection of innovation and deployment.

Your role

You will work in our team of experienced 3D vision engineers, 3D computer graphics engineers, and controls and robotics engineers. You will not just work on some unimportant side project but you might actually build key parts of solutions that will be used by our customers and partners. Activities include:

• Contributing to the development and tuning of guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) algorithms for autonomous flight, including takeoff, landing, and waypoint following.
• Assisting in integrating control and navigation modules with perception and state estimation systems.
• Using simulation environments (SITL/HIL) to test and validate flight control behavior before hardware deployment.
• Reviewing and interpreting flight logs and telemetry to help assess control performance and identify issues.
• Working closely with hardware and flight test teams to configure and calibrate UAV platforms.
• Supporting flight test campaigns through setup, monitoring, and post-flight data analysis.
• Helping improve internal tools for simulation, control diagnostics, and flight visualization.
• Learning from and collaborating with senior engineers to iterate between simulation and real-world testing and continuously improve flight performance.

What we expect from you

• Foundational understanding of flight dynamics, control theory, and real-time systems.
• Hands-on experience (academic, hobby, or project-based) designing control loops for UAVs or similar dynamic systems.
• Familiarity with flight control stacks such as PX4 , Ardupilot , or other open-source autopilots.
• Strong programming skills in C++ or Python .
• Awareness of state estimation and filtering concepts (e.g., sensor fusion, complementary filters, or EKF basics).
• Comfort working with UAV simulators or an eagerness to learn SITL/HIL testing workflows.
• Curiosity and motivation to learn quickly, explore new areas, and seek guidance when needed.
• A hands-on attitude, persistence, and enthusiasm for building and improving real flying systems.
• Full-time availability (40 hours).

What can we offer

• 1000 euro monthly compensation.
• 10 vacation days during internship period.
• (Really) flexible working hours and option to work from home 2 days per week.
• Have a direct and significant influence on highly innovative products.
• The opportunity to iterate quickly with tight feedback loops, close to the product. We are innovating, learning is to be expected.
• Responsibility over the things you implement, you are the expert on what you build.

The application procedure

• If after reading the above you are convinced you are the right person for the job, click on apply and fill out the application form; be sure to upload your resume, and any other source you see as relevant, as long as we get a clear impression of your background and skills.
• We'll get back to you ASAP. If we feel you could be a fit for the position, we'll invite you for an informal introduction so we can get to know you, and equally important, you can get to know us. After this, a second focused interview could follow.
• If at this point we feel you are the person we are looking for, we'll discuss the specifics.
• Welcome to the team!