Mercedes-Benz R&D North America

During my 6-month internship at Mercedes Benz Research and Development North America, I had the opportunity to work with a talented team of experts in the autonomous driving department. As part of the Software in the Loop (SiL) team, I was responsible for testing the autonomous driving software in simulation, in various traffic scenarios from around the world.

One of the exciting projects I was involved in was the switch of HD map providers, where I wrote an extensive map converter to ensure our simulation could work seamlessly with both types of maps. This map converter allowed us to continue testing the software in simulation before deploying it to the real vehicle, making the process more efficient and cost-effective.

During my time at Mercedes, I was able to make a significant contribution to the team by increasing the number of simulated autonomous miles by a factor of 10. I learned a lot about working effectively in a large software project, including how to handle Git, work in Agile projects, and properly test and document code.

In addition to my professional development, I also had the opportunity to explore California and make life-long friends. Overall, my internship at Mercedes Benz was a fantastic experience that taught me a great deal about autonomous driving and the importance of teamwork and collaboration in software development.