Back in 2000, I worked for a forklift company, developing a transmission controller. I spent a lot of time driving the forklift around outside, with my laptop

Back in 2000, I worked for a forklift company, developing a transmission controller. I spent a lot of time driving the forklift around outside, with my laptop zip-tied to a platform they welded on for me next to the steering wheel. I would put a load on the forks and do things like go up hills, lift the load, hit the brakes, flip from reverse to forward at full speed, etc., and evaluate how the truck responded. Based on that, I then stopped the truck wherever I happened to be (on the company owned test area), altered the source code, compiled, downloaded, and did the test again. It was a lot of fun. So I imagine your best bet is to develop firmware for vehicles, drones, or robots for land, air, or sea. There will be testing and modifications to be done in real-world (outside) conditions.