Company Description: Cislune develops lunar in‑situ resource utilization (ISRU) and surface construction technologies to support sustained Artemis-era operations. Since 2021, we’ve received 14 NASA SBIR/STTR awards advancing lunar excavation, regolith conveyance/processing, and dust‑tolerant mechanisms, and have won 6 NASA innovation competitions including Break the Ice Lunar Challenge, LunaRecycle, and the Entrepreneurs Challenge. We design, prototype, and test hardware and software spanning mechanisms, robotics, sensing, and autonomy, moving concepts from TRL 2–6 with fast, disciplined experimentation.
Primary Responsibilities/ Focus Areas of Internship:
The intern will support AI-enabled lunar mobility and excavation R&D. They will organize rover, wheel, and regolith-test data; develop and evaluate models that estimate terrain properties, slip, sinkage, traction, power, or excavation performance; connect results to a digital twin or autonomy workflow; plan and run validation tests; and document findings in engineering notes, code, and will complete a final presentation. The intern will work with Cislune engineers using Python, GitHub, shared datasets, and regular design reviews.
Key Tasks/Projects the intern may be involved with:
- Data pipeline: clean, label, and visualize rover, wheel, and regolith-test data; define quality checks and a reproducible notebook workflow.
- AI model: train and compare models that predict terrain class, slip or sinkage, traction, power, or excavation performance; document accuracy and uncertainty.
- Digital-twin and autonomy integration: connect model outputs to a simulation or planning tool and demonstrate a terrain-aware decision.
- Physical validation: help design a small rover and regolith test matrix, collect new data, compare predictions with measurements, and recommend improvements.
- Deliverables: version-controlled code, dataset documentation, technical memo, and final demonstration or presentation.
Required Skills & Level:
- Python and Data Analysis (NumPy, pandas, Jupyter): intermediate-level knowledge
- Engineering or Physical Science fundamentals: beginner to intermediate-level knowledge
- Statistics and Experimental Data interpretation: beginner to intermediate-level knowledge
- Git/GitHub and organized documentation: beginner knowledge
- Clear written and verbal technical communication: beginner to intermediate-level knowledge
- Ability to work independently and ask good questions in a remote or hybrid engineering team
Desirable Skills & Level:
- Machine learning with scikit-learn, PyTorch, or TensorFlow: beginner to intermediate-level knowledge
- Robotics, ROS2, controls, or path planning: beginner knowledge
- Computer vision or sensor fusion: beginner knowledge
- Simulation and digital twins (Gazebo, Isaac Sim, MATLAB/Simulink, or equivalent): beginner knowledge
- Terramechanics, geotechnical engineering, planetary science, or lunar ISRU: beginner knowledge
- CAD, instrumentation, or hands-on rover testing: beginner knowledge
Work Location & Hours: Cislune is located in California; this is a fully virtual internship. Work hours must be completed between Monday - Friday, 8AM-5PMPM Pacific Time.