Robotics Intern - Prototyping and Research Operations

Toyota Research Institute • Los Altos, CA

126d • $45 - $65

About The Position

At Toyota Research Institute (TRI), we’re on a mission to improve the quality of human life. We’re developing new tools and capabilities to amplify the human experience. To lead this transformative shift in mobility, we’ve built a world-class team in Automated Driving, Energy & Materials, Human-Centered AI, Human Interactive Driving, Large Behavior Models, and Robotics. This is a summer 2026 paid 12-week internship opportunity. Please note that this internship will be a hybrid in-office role. The Prototyping and Research Operations (PROps) team supports and operationalizes TRI’s robotics research to succeed at scale in laboratory and deployment environments. We work across engineering and operations disciplines to develop robot hardware and testing setups, as well as operate and deploy robotic research systems to collect data for researchers. Our team administers the two prototyping laboratories within TRI and uses those facilities to prototype research hardware.

Requirements

• Robotics, Computer Science, or Engineering student (undergrad junior or senior, or a master’s student).
• A drive to learn new skills and become adept at new systems, processes, and tools.
• A safety-first mentality.
• Experience executing and summarizing system tests and results.
• Demonstrable communication skills, written and verbal, including utilization of design documents and systems drawings.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with large scale data collection efforts.
• Process Engineering or Quality Engineering knowledge.
• 6-Sigma training.
• Understand software development processes and the tooling required to enact them, such as version control (e.g., Git) and CI/ CD (e.g., Jenkins).
• Working knowledge of Asana and Gsuite.

Responsibilities

• Assist in fulfilling fabrication requests and maintaining the functionality of manufacturing equipment and robotic systems.
• Work alongside Research Operations to design and coordinate events that support research initiatives.
• Work directly with the robot operators to discover pain points and find mitigations.
• Enhance data collection processes and maintain comprehensive testing and deployment documentation.
• Develop and implement a robust communication system to enhance the clarity and efficiency of task instructions.
• Establish and monitor quality metrics to provide actionable insights for task performance.
• Contribute to improving the overall effectiveness of the robotics team in executing new tasks and projects.

Benefits

• Generous benefits package including vacation and sick time.

What This Job Offers

• Career Level: Intern
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree
• Number of Employees: 101-250 employees