About the Job
A Chennai based Zoho group of company is seeking an experienced engineer to design, train, and deploy reinforcement learning (RL) policies for an Ackermann-steered robotic vehicle. This role involves full stack ownership from data pipelines and simulation to on-vehicle inference spanning perception, planning / control, and MLOps.
You should be skilled in PyTorch (primary), with production experience in TensorFlow / Keras, and possess strong data engineering capabilities.
What You’ll Do
Reinforcement Learning
- Design and implement RL / IL algorithms for lateral and longitudinal control (e.G., SAC, TD3, PPO, IQL / CQL, BC / DAgger).
- Build reward functions and constraints that respect Ackermann kinematics, curvature limits, tire slip, and comfort.
- Contribute to safe and constrained RL frameworks with uncertainty estimation and fallback control strategies (PID / MPC).
Perception and Vision
Develop perception models for occupancy, drivable space, and obstacle detection / tracking.Maintain computer vision pipelines for applications such as orchards, dairy farms, and off-road environments.Fuse multi sensor inputs (camera, IMU, encoders, and optionally LiDAR) for robust state estimation.Planning and Control Integration
Implement trajectory tracking, safety envelopes, and collision checking.Calibrate steering angle to curvature (Ackermann geometry) and validate with off-road telemetry.Collaborate on hybrid IL / RL control or MPC-based integration strategiesData engineering and MLOps
Build data pipelines from vehicle logs to train / evaluation datasets with automated quality checks.Design and manage feature stores, dataset versioning, and automated labeling loops.Establish reproducible model training, experiment tracking, and CI / CD workflows for ML modelsSimulation and testing
Demonstrate closed-loop on-vehicle driving at low to moderate speeds with defined safety gates and KPIs (tracking error, intervention rate, comfort).Author scenarios and evaluators (closed‑loop tests, Monte Carlo, rare‑event mining).On‑vehicle deployment
Deploy and optimize networks on embedded platforms (Jetson Orin / Xavier, x86 GPU) using TensorRT / CUDA with real-time scheduling and profiling..Collaboration
Work cross‑functionally with controls, firmware, and test teams;mentor junior engineers.
Minimum Qualifications
6+ years of industry experience in ML / robotics systems (or 3+ with a relevant MS / PhD), including 2+ yeas in RL for control / robotics.Strong proficiency in Python and at least one systems language (C preferred).Deep expertise in PyTorch with production exposure to TensorFlow / Keras.Solid foundations in :■ RL / IL (value / policy gradients, offline RL, dataset curation, covariate shift handling).
■ Control and estimation (Ackermann kinematics / dynamics, PID / MPC, EKF / UKF).
■ Computer vision (detection, segmentation, tracking;BEV / occupancy).
Strong data engineering background—ETL, large-scale dataset handling, Docker / Linux, and GPU / cloud workflows.Proven ROS / ROS2 development experience with real-world sim-to-real deployments on mobile robots or vehicles.Preferred Qualifications
Experience with safe or constrained RL, uncertainty modeling, or risk-aware planning.Background in offline RL (CQL / IQL / AWR) and hybrid IL / RL training curricula.Familiarity with mapping / localization (HD / vector maps, lane graphs).Experience in automotive / robotics safety (SOTIF ISO 21448, ISO 26262) and test track operations.Experience with nav2, CAN, and embedded interfaces.Key Outcomes (First 90–180 Days)
Establish a data pipeline from vehicle logs to curated train / eval datasets with automated quality checks.
Deliver a baseline IL policy (lane following, obstacle avoidance) in simulation and progress to RL fine-tuning with safety constraints.Demonstrate closed-loop on-vehicle driving at low to moderate speeds with defined safety gates and KPIs (tracking error, intervention rate, comfort).Set up CI / CD workflows and reproducible benchmarking across simulation and track runs.Stack You’ll Use
ML : PyTorch (primary), TensorFlow / Keras, ONNX / TensorRT, CUDA Vision : OpenCV, torchvision, Detectron / YOLO, BEV / occupancy frameworks Robotics : ROS2, nav2, C17 / 20 Data & MLOps : Python, Pandas / Numpy, Arrow / Parquet, DVC / MLflow / W&B, Docker, Git, CI Simulation : CARLA, Isaac Sim, Gazebo, AirSim