Scientist: Physical AI

Honda Research Institute USA, Inc.; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading robotics research organization in San Jose, California, is seeking a passionate Research Scientist to join its Robotics Division. This role involves innovating in robotic intelligence development, focusing on adaptive algorithms, robot cognition, and collaboration with regional and global teams. Candidates must hold a Ph.D. in robotics or a related field and possess extensive experience in planning, control methods, and learning-based approaches. Strong programming skills in C++ or Python are necessary.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in robotics, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, or computer science.
• Expert Knowledge on learning-based methods such as reinforcement learning and generative models.
• Extensive experience in development of planning and control methods for autonomous systems.
• Strong familiarity with transformer models.
• Extensive experience with physics-based simulations.
• Strong familiarity with sensing and state estimation in robotics.
• Solid knowledge of robotics fundamentals.
• Strong track record of publishing in top robotics venues.
• Solid programming skills in C++ or Python.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Research, ideate, and implement robot cognition and reasoning algorithms.
• Validate results through comprehensive data analysis.
• Assist with compiling written and oral reports for executives.
• Contribute to patents, academic publications, and prototypes.
• Collaborate with teams of scientists and engineers.

Skills

Reinforcement learning

Generative models

Planning and control methods

Transformer models

Physics-based simulations

Sensing and state estimation

C++ programming

Python programming

Robotics fundamentals

Communication skills

Education

Ph.D. in robotics or related field

Tools

ROS

Job description

Honda Research Institute USA (HRI-US) in San Jose, California, is looking for a passionate and self-motivated research scientist to join our Robotics Division. Through the creation of avatars and autonomous intelligent entities, Honda’s robotics program is positioning robots to work alongside humans in collaborative, scalable networks aimed at extending human capabilities. Research scientist specializing in physical AI will innovate and participate in key areas of robotic intelligence development that will enable robots to perceive, understand, perform complex actions in the real world and adapt as necessary.

Key Responsibilities

• Research, ideate, and implement robot cognition and reasoning algorithms for adaptive intelligence to enable learning robust behaviors and recover from failures.
• Validate the results through comprehensive data analysis and successful demonstrations on hardware.
• Deliver results in accordance with the project timelines.
• Assist with compiling written and oral reports for executives within the company and performing demos.
• Contribute to the portfolio of patents, academic publications, and prototypes to demonstrate research value.
• Collaborate with our teams of scientists and engineers in Honda’s regional and global R&D offices, as well as with our partners in academia and industry.

Minimum Qualifications

• Ph.D. in robotics, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, or a related field.
• Expert Knowledge on learning-based methods such as reinforcement learning, generative models (e.g. diffusion) and inference models.
• Extensive experience in development of planning and control methods for autonomous systems.
• Strong familiarity with transformer models and (multimodal) foundation models (e.g. VLMs).
• Extensive experience with physics-based simulations.
• Strong familiarity with sensing and state estimation in robotics.
• Solid knowledge of fundamentals of robotics. (e.g. robot kinematics and dynamics, control systems, haptics.)
• Strong track record of publishing in top robotics venues (e.g T-RO, RA-L, T-M, CoRL, ICRA, IROS, RSS, …)
• Solid programming skills in C++ or Python and strong familiarity with ROS.
• Self-motivated to advance the project and deliver on time.
• Strong written and oral communication skills including development and delivery of presentations, papers, and technical documents.

Bonus Qualifications

• Hands-on experience on development and successful implementation of planning, control and recovery algorithms for real-world contact-rich manipulation using multi-fingered hands.
• Strong familiarity with both model and learning-based approaches for manipulation.