Perception Engineer

The job

LIVE Employer public job feed (private-sector employer) Source: the employer's public careers feed · Data: listed 2026-10-02

Job description

About LightSpeed

LightSpeed Build Technologies is revolutionizing the construction industry through AI-powered robotics. Our flagship systems—BRUTE for automated wall panel manufacturing and DEX for on-site collaborative construction—are addressing the global housing crisis by delivering unprecedented speed, precision, and affordability in homebuilding.

Position Overview

As a Perception Engineer, you will own how LightSpeed's robots see. You will design, calibrate, and deploy the multi-camera systems on our robot cells and end-of-arm tooling, and build the perception that guides manipulation in real time. Your camera streams also feed our teleoperation and robot learning pipelines, so the quality of what you build directly shapes how well our robots learn. This role sits at the intersection of sensor hardware, 3D vision, and deep learning, all deployed on physical robots where reliability matters.

What you'll work on

Camera & Sensor Systems

• Select, specify, and deploy multi-camera systems (RGB, stereo, depth) for robot cells, including wrist- and tool-mounted cameras on end-of-arm tooling and dexterous hands

• Own intrinsic, extrinsic, and hand-eye calibration, and keep calibration reliable across tool changes and daily operation

• Synchronize cameras with robot state and teleoperation streams

• Work with mechanical engineers on camera placement for coverage, occlusion, and lighting

Perception Development

• Estimate and track robot and end-effector pose using vision systems to verify kinematics and identify drift

• Compare 3D scans against CAD or BIM models to check part placement and as-built accuracy

• Localize robots and tools in the workspace using fiducials (AprilTag or ChArUco) and multi-view fusion

• Build object detection, segmentation, and 6-DoF pose estimation for parts, fasteners, and tools in cluttered, confined, and poorly lit workspaces

• Build point cloud pipelines (filtering, segmentation, registration such as ICP, and meshing) for manipulation and scene understanding

• Track hands and objects in egocentric video of human demonstrations

• Build CUDA-optimized perception pipelines: GPU preprocessing, custom CUDA kernels where needed, TensorRT inference, and minimal host–device copies

• Profile and optimize end-to-end latency, from photon to action, using tools like Nsight Systems

Data & Robot Learning Support

• Deliver calibrated, time-synchronized camera data in the formats our teleoperation recording and training pipelines consume

• Partner with AI/ML engineers to define observation spaces for imitation learning and vision-language-action policies

• Set perception accuracy targets tied to task success, and build benchmarks to measure them

Integration & Deployment

• Integrate perception with ROS2-based robot control

• Harden systems for real-world conditions: lighting changes, reflective surfaces, occlusion, and vibration

• Collaborate closely with robotics, mechanical, and controls engineers

Required Qualifications

Perception Expertise

• 3+ years building and deploying perception systems on physical robots or real-time systems

• Hands-on experience calibrating multi-camera systems (intrinsic, extrinsic, hand-eye) and synchronizing sensors

• Experience with RGB-D and stereo cameras in real deployments

• Strong computer vision fundamentals: camera geometry, multi-view geometry, and 3D reconstruction

• Deep learning experience with detection, segmentation, or pose estimation using PyTorch

Software Engineering

• Strong Python and C++

• Experience with OpenCV and point cloud libraries such as Open3D or PCL

• Experience with ROS or ROS2

• Proficiency with Linux, Docker, Git, and CI/CD workflows

Preferred Qualifications

• MS or PhD in Computer Vision, Robotics, Computer Science, or a related field

• Perception for robotic manipulation, especially dexterous or tool-based manipulation

• Experience with hardware video encoding (NVENC, Jetson Multimedia API), GStreamer, or WebRTC

• Experience with NVIDIA Isaac ROS / NITROS, VPI, or CV-CUDA

• Experience with point cloud registration and scan-to-CAD/BIM comparison

• Experience with vision foundation models (for example SAM, DINOv2, FoundationPose)

• Experience with egocentric video or hand pose estimation

• Experience producing sensor data for robot learning datasets (e.g., rosbag or MCAP)

• Edge deployment on NVIDIA Jetson with TensorRT

• Simulation and synthetic data generation with Isaac Sim, MuJoCo, or similar

• Background in manufacturing, industrial automation, or construction technology

Why Join LightSpeed

• Build the eyes of robots that are addressing the housing crisis

• Own the full perception stack, from sensor selection to deployed models

• Work on rare real-world challenges: confined-space manipulation, dexterous hands, learning from human demonstration

• Hands-on culture with direct access to robots, sensors, and manufacturing environments

• Competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits

Employment Relationship

This position is at-will, meaning either you or the Company may terminate employment at any time, with or without cause or notice.

Equal Opportunity

LightSpeed Build Technologies is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. We welcome candidates from all backgrounds and experiences.

Explore around this job

Field: Engineering, Construction and Energy Sub-niche: Manufacturing and hardware engineering All jobs at Lightspeed Jobs in Illinois Jobs in Northbrook, IL Northbrook city guide Illinois state guide Cook County economy

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About the role

This is a — role in the Engineering, Construction and Energy field (Manufacturing and hardware engineering) at Lightspeed.

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The city

The job is in Northbrook, IL. Below is what the official statistics say about living and working there.

How Northbrook compares. Among the 100 largest places in Illinois, Northbrook is #54 by population, #100 for rent (#1 = cheapest), #3 for household income (#1 = highest), #3 for college degrees (#1 = most). Its county, Cook County, is #2 of 102 counties for average pay ($86,931).

The place in numbers

Northbrook has 34,585 residents (ACS 2020–2024), about 0.3% of the population of Illinois. It covers 13 square miles of land, which works out to roughly 2,611 people per square mile. The median age is 49.6, 27% older than the state median (49.6 against 39.0).

Housing

The median gross rent is $2,463 a month (rent plus utilities), 93% above the state median ($2,463 against $1,274). Over a year that is 18.7% of the median household income. US housing guidance treats housing as affordable when it takes 30% of income or less, so the typical household is under that line. The median home value is $652,300, which is 4.1 times the median household income ($157,782). 87.2% of households own their home, 30% above the state average (87.2% against 67.1%).

Work and pay

The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metropolitan area has 4,513,280 jobs in the BLS wage survey, and the median pay across all occupations is $54,720 a year, 7% above the national median ($54,720 against $50,980). The biggest occupation groups are office and administrative support (488,940 jobs, median $48,840); transportation and material moving (484,580 jobs, median $45,920); management (404,010 jobs, median $131,890). The area is most specialised in management (1.2 times) and transportation and material moving (1.2 times), where the share of workers is above the national share. The best-paying groups with at least 5,000 jobs are management ($131,890) and legal ($112,440). In 2026M09 the unemployment rate of Cook County was 4.7%. 59.2% of residents aged 16 and over are in the labour force. The city lies in Cook County; its jobs, pay by industry and GDP are on the county page.

Getting around

Among workers, 53.8% drive alone, 5.8% use public transit, 2.0% walk, 32.4% work from home. 20.7% of workers commute 45 minutes or more, 5% above the state average (20.7% against 19.7%). Remote work is more common than in the state as a whole, which widens the set of employers a resident can work for without moving.

People and education

72.6% of adults aged 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 92% above the state share (72.6% against 37.9%). 20.7% of residents were born outside the United States, 40% above the state share (20.7% against 14.8%). The poverty rate is 4.3%, 63% below the state rate (4.3% against 11.8%).

Climate

The warmest month is Jul, averaging 74°F (23.5°C), and the coolest is Jan at 22°F (-5.6°C). About 984 mm (39 inches) of precipitation falls in a year; May is the wettest month (120 mm) and Jan the driest (44 mm). These values come from NASA satellite-based climatology on a grid of about 50 km, so they describe the wider area, not a weather station in the city.

Nearby cities to compare

Closest cities in this guide: Glenview (3 miles, rent 13% lower); Highland Park (4 miles, rent 22% lower); Wheeling (4 miles, rent 32% lower); Morton Grove (6 miles, rent 12% lower). Rent differences are against Northbrook; use the Compare tab to put any two cities side by side.

Full guide to Northbrook →Illinois guideAll jobs in Northbrook

Official links for Northbrook

• Census Bureau data profile for Northbrook
• Official state website: illinois.gov
• BLS Economy at a Glance: Illinois

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Where to live

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Career paths

We could not match this title to one occupation, so here are the other sub-niches in Engineering, Construction and Energy, where your skills may carry over:

Construction and field engineering (458) Energy and utilities (623)

Distances

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The employer

Lightspeed is the employer in this listing. See all its open jobs here →

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What it is like to work at a company (culture, schedules, benefits) is not in the source data, so we do not describe it. Read the description and ask the questions under "How to prepare".

Other open jobs at Lightspeed

Similar jobs

Same sub-niche: Manufacturing and hardware engineering

More jobs in Northbrook, IL

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FAQ

What is the Perception Engineer job at Lightspeed?

A private-sector role in engineering, construction and energy (manufacturing and hardware engineering) listed 39 days ago. The full description is on this page and on the employer's page.

Where is this job?

Northbrook, IL.

How do I apply?

Use the "View this job and apply on the employer's page" button. AtiveSite does not receive applications.

How much does it pay?

The listing does not publish pay, and we could not match the title to one official occupation.

What is the cost of living there?

Median rent in Northbrook is $2,463 a month and median household income $157,782 (ACS 2020–2024).

How old is this listing?

It was posted on 2026-10-02 (39 days ago). Jobs older than 90 days are not shown.

Are there similar jobs?

Yes: browse manufacturing and hardware engineering jobs in Illinois.

Sources and terms

• Job data: Lightspeed careers page public feed (listing dated 2026-10-02). The job disappears from this site when it disappears from the source.
• Wages and projections: BLS OEWS (May 2025) and Employment Projections 2025–35.
• City and county figures: Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024, BEA, BLS QCEW and LAUS, NASA POWER climatology; distances from Census Gazetteer coordinates.

AtiveSite is not affiliated with or endorsed by the employer or any government agency, and does not process applications. Verify every detail with the employer before acting.

Sources

• BLS OEWS (wages and employment by occupation, May 2025)
• BLS Employment Projections 2025–35
• BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics
• BLS JOLTS
• BLS State and Metro Area Employment
• Census Bureau American Community Survey (via Census Reporter)
• BEA GDP by state and Regional Price Parities
• IRS 2026 tax adjustments
• U.S. Department of Labor, minimum wage by state
• Tax Foundation state income tax rates 2026
• USAJOBS
• USCIS
• U.S. Department of State, visas
• NASA POWER climatology
• GeoNames / Census Gazetteer (coordinates)