PX4/Gazebo Flight Simulation Engineer for Custom Tailsitter VTOL

PX4/Gazebo Flight Simulation Engineer for Custom Tailsitter VTOL We are looking for an experienced UAV simulation and flight-dynamics engineer to develop a practical engineering simulator for a custom electric tailsitter VTOL aircraft. The simulator will be used actively throughout aircraft development to validate configurations, tune PX4, investigate flight-test issues, evaluate design changes and reduce risk before physical testing. This is an engineering simulation project, not a game or marketing visualization project. Scope The selected contractor will: Build a custom aircraft model in modern Gazebo Integrate the model with PX4 SITL and QGroundControl Prepare the provided CAD model for simulation Help calculate mass, center of gravity and moments of inertia Configure motors, propellers, elevons, sensors and actuator mapping Develop an initial aerodynamic model for hover, transition and fixed-wing flight Create configurable wind, payload, CG and propulsion conditions Build basic Python tools for launching, resetting and automating test scenarios Enable PX4 logging and repeatable comparison of simulation results Structure the system so Unreal Engine visualization and hardware-in-the-loop testing can be added later We will provide aircraft CAD, component specifications, propulsion information, avionics configuration, physical measurements and available flight logs. Initial Deliverables Working PX4 SITL, Gazebo and QGroundControl workflow Custom tailsitter aircraft model Documented mass, CG and inertia calculations Correct motor, elevon and sensor configuration Vertical takeoff, controlled hover and landing Transition to stable forward flight and return to hover Adjustable aircraft and environmental parameters Direct actuator-testing workflow Repeatable engineering test scenarios PX4 ULog capture and analysis workflow Source code, setup documentation and technical handover The simulator must remain usable without Unreal Engine. Gazebo should be the authoritative physics environment, while the architecture should allow a synchronized Unreal visualization and camera-simulation layer to be added in a later phase. Required Experience PX4 SITL Gazebo QGroundControl and MAVLink UAV flight dynamics Fixed-wing or VTOL aircraft simulation C++ and Python Aircraft mass properties and inertia calculations Experience with tailsitters, differential thrust, PX4 control allocation, hardware-in-the-loop simulation or Unreal Engine is strongly preferred. When Applying Please include: Examples of custom UAV simulations you have developed. Your experience with PX4 and Gazebo. Your approach to modeling a two-motor tailsitter with elevons and differential thrust. How you would calculate and validate CG and moments of inertia. How you would calibrate the simulation using physical tests and flight logs. Your estimated timeline and proposed milestone structure. Links to relevant repositories, videos or technical work.