Ai and Robotics (GPS-denied navigation stack for UAVs)

Company: PhoQtek Labs Private Limited

Location: Hyderabad (On-site)

Start Date: Immediate

About the Role

You will work on building and validating the GPS-denied navigation stack for GarudaNAV, PhoQtek visual navigation system for autonomous drones. This includes VIO, SLAM, sensor fusion, and integrating perception outputs into flight control systems. As a startup, we also value candidates who can contribute across software, hardware, testing, and rapid prototyping.

Core Responsibilities

GPS - Denied Navigation Development

Implement, test, and tune VisualInertial Odometry (VIO) pipelines

Develop visual navigation and SLAM systems (ORB-SLAM, VINS-Fusion,

SVO, etc.)

Work on sensor fusion (IMU + Camera + Barometer + optical flow)

Build pipelines for monocular/stereo/depth camerabased navigation

Optimize perception models for Jetson Orin Nano/NX

Integrate navigation outputs into PX4/ArduPilot for autonomous flight

Debug real-world issues in GPS-denied flight environments

Startup-Environment Contributions

Support hardware integration: Jetson setup, camera rigs, sensor

calibration

Assist during indoor/outdoor flight tests and dataset collection

Maintain documentation, experiments, logs, and test results

Work with robotics engineers on rapid prototyping and quick iterations

• Help in simulation setups (Gazebo / Air Sim / PX4-SITL) when required

Required Skills

Strong fundamentals in CV / Robotics / State Estimation

Hands-on experience with any VIO or SLAM framework

Python and/or C++ proficiency

Understanding of IMU processing, feature tracking, and pose estimation

Exposure to Jetson edge devices and camera/IMU hardware

Familiarity with PX4/ArduPilot, ROS/ROS2, or MAVLink is a plus

Good to Have

Experience with CUDA/TensorRT acceleration

Knowledge of EKF2, Kalman filters, or nonlinear optimization

Prior drone autonomy or robotics competition work

Experience with RealSense, depth cameras, stereo rigs, or optical flow

sensors

Who Should Apply

1/3 years experience or post docs, Final-year students or early-career engineers interested in autonomous systems

People who love solving hard problems in navigation without GPS

Builders who enjoy hands-on testing, fast execution, and startup

autonomy

What Youll Gain

Direct exposure to real GPS-denied drone autonomy R&D

Ability to work end-to-end: algorithm - Jetson onboard - PX4 - field tests

Fast-paced learning with real responsibility

Strong pathway to a full-time R&D role based on performance