Driverless Car Engineers

Driverless car engineers may have experience in the following engineering fields: electrical, robotics, controls and drives, sensor system, and systems. They work with hardware and software as well as with electrical and communications systems. They use software code such as C++, Linux, and Python in developing efficient, safe operation systems for autonomous vehicles. They analyze the data from autonomous cars or from entire models of cars to improve the operating systems.

The job involves analyzing and solving complex technical issues in robotics and other areas and collaborating with other engineers such as hardware and systems engineers. Driverless car engineers may work on the motion planning and decision-making systems in self-driving cars, as described in a job posting for software engineers at Waymo. The engineers who work in the planning and controls area are responsible for ensuring that the vehicles operate safely, smoothly, and predictably for the drivers and all road users. Driverless car engineers are also responsible for analyzing and understanding the autonomous vehicles' performance and operation systems in order to address future driving challenges.

Driverless car engineers make sure that the sensors and computer controls in the cars are interacting and operating properly with the environment. There are currently six levels of vehicle automation, as recognized by the U.S. Department of Transportation and automotive organizations: no automation (total driver control), driver assistance, partial automation, conditional automation, high automation, and full automation. The automation that a growing number of cars have includes adaptive cruise control, parallel parking, driver fatigue detection, accident avoidance, and lane guidance.