Hiring — Autonomous Waypoint Programmer for Residential Property (Orange County, CA) | Paid Project

Hi ArduPilot community,

I’m coordinating on behalf of a private client in Orange County, California, and we’re looking to hire an experienced ArduPilot (or DJI SDK) developer for a focused, one-time programming project.

What we need:

We want to configure a drone for fully autonomous, scheduled perimeter and roof survey flights over a private residential property. The drone must:

  • Fly a pre-programmed waypoint route (perimeter + roof flyover) and return to a fixed landing spot

  • Launch and land automatically on a configurable schedule — no manual intervention per flight

  • Capture still images (snapshots only, no video) and upload them to a cloud destination post-flight

  • Complete each flight in under 5 minutes

  • Operate 3–4 times per week on an automated schedule

Technical scope:

  • Waypoint mission programming with scheduled autonomous launch

  • Image capture configuration (snapshots only)

  • Cloud upload integration (destination TBD — client handles cloud setup)

  • No GPS-denied or indoor navigation needed — standard outdoor residential environment

  • Battery manually charged by on-site staff — no self-charging or docking station required

This is NOT:

  • A drone pilot or operator role

  • An ongoing service contract or monitoring engagement

  • A data analysis or mapping project

Engagement:

  • One-time project, fixed or hourly rate

  • Initial paid discovery call before any site visit

  • Remote collaboration welcome; Orange County area preferred for eventual on-site configuration

Drone platform:

Not yet finalized — open to your recommendation based on the requirements. DJI or ArduPilot-compatible hardware preferred.

To express interest:

Please reply here or send a direct message with:

  • Brief background and relevant experience

  • Any past autonomous waypoint or scheduled flight projects (links or descriptions welcome)

  • Your preferred rate (hourly or project-based)

We’ll review all responses and reach out to shortlisted candidates for a paid discovery call.

Thanks in advance — looking forward to hearing from the community.