Internship: Foundation Models for Humanoid Robot Manipulation

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 67,000 - 89,000; Full time

Job summary

MERL in Cambridge, MA seeks a highly motivated Ph.D. student to research foundation models for humanoid loco-manipulation in factory automation, focusing on safety and robustness.

The internship will develop humanoid systems for material handling tasks in warehouse environments. Candidate should have publications in robotics/AI and experience with Vision-Language-Action models, world models, and sim-to-real transfer (MuJoCo/Isaac Lab).

Qualifications

• Current enrollment in a Ph.D. program in Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• Hands-on research experience with Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models and multimodal foundation models for robotics.
• Research experience with world models for robotic planning, prediction, or decision making.

Responsibilities

• Conduct research on foundation models for humanoid loco-manipulation in factory automation.
• Collaborate with MERL researchers to develop novel algorithms integrating VLA models, world models, and robot control.

Skills

Embodied AI

Robotics

Publications in leading venues

Vision-Language-Action models

Multimodal foundation models

Sim-to-real transfer

Education

PhD student in Mechanical Engineering/CS/EE

Job description

MERL in Cambridge, MA seeks a highly motivated Ph.D. student to research foundation models for humanoid loco-manipulation in factory automation, focusing on safety and robustness.

The internship will develop humanoid systems for material handling tasks in warehouse environments. Candidate should have publications in robotics/AI and experience with Vision-Language-Action models, world models, and sim-to-real transfer (MuJoCo/Isaac Lab).