Robotics Intern, Human-Machine Interaction Research
About The Position
Toyota Research Institute’s Human-Machine Interaction Research group designs, develops, and evaluates human-centered interfaces that support safety, well-being, and task performance when people use AI. The team studies how people interact with intelligent systems and develops interfaces that help people and AI work seamlessly together, particularly in physically interactive settings. As a summer research intern, you will develop and evaluate interactions with quadruped robots. The work includes prototyping integrated systems, collecting and analyzing human-participant data, building models of interaction logic, conducting user studies, developing robot policies that adapt to people, and deploying and evaluating approaches on robot hardware. This is a paid 12-week internship and a hybrid, in-office role.
Requirements
- Currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, Robotics, Machine Learning, Cognitive Science, or a related field.
- Experience developing and prototyping interactive or embodied AI systems, such as interactive robots, multimodal assistants, or conversational agents.
- Familiarity with human-robot interaction (HRI), human-AI interaction, or human behavior modeling.
- Experience with experimental design, user studies, and quantitative or qualitative data analysis.
- Ability to work independently, iterate quickly, and communicate research findings clearly.
Responsibilities
- Design and develop prototypes that enable embodied AI agents to support people collaborating on physical tasks.
- Leverage multimodal AI to understand human activities, task progress, and collaborative interactions.
- Develop and evaluate interaction strategies that enable embodied AI agents to adapt assistance to different contexts and collaborative situations.
- Integrate AI models and interaction logic with robotic hardware to enable real-time human-robot interaction.
- Design and conduct user studies to investigate how AI assistance influences human collaboration, task performance, and user experience.
- Collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data to evaluate system effectiveness and identify opportunities for improvement.
- Collaborate with a multidisciplinary team of research scientists and engineers across Toyota Research Institute.
- Communicate research findings through presentations and written reports, including potential submissions to leading international research venues.
Benefits
- Medical insurance
- Dental insurance
- Vision insurance
- Paid time off, including holiday pay and sick time
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Intern
Education Level
Ph.D. or professional degree
