PhD Autonomy Engineer Intern - Planning & Controls (Reinforcement Learning)

Skydio is the leading US drone company and the world leader in autonomous flight, the key technology for the future of drones and aerial mobility. The Skydio team combines deep expertise in artificial intelligence, best-in-class hardware and software product development, operational excellence, and customer obsession to empower a broader, more diverse audience of drone users, from utility inspectors to first responders , soldiers in battlefield scenarios , and beyond . About the role: Skydio builds the world’s most advanced autonomous drones used across inspection, public safety, defense, cinematography, and more. Your research won’t languish in a paper—it will fly , shaping how pilots and operators complete real missions in complex environments. Develop and deploy reinforcement learning (and adjacent policy-learning methods) that make Skydio aircraft plan, navigate, and control themselves more intelligently—safely, reliably, and efficiently—across our ecosystem: handheld apps, ground control, cloud autonomy services, and fleet workflows. How you'll make an impact: Navigation & avoidance in the wild: Train policies that adapt online to cluttered 3D scenes (forests, bridges, urb