Software Co-op/Intern, Physical AI

Roboticsconnected; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 28,000 - 34,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Exposure to a high-growth startup

Real ownership of production code

Direct mentorship from senior ML and

Hands-on experience with robotics

Team off-sites, workshops, events

Potential path to full-time offer

Job summary

Luminous Robotics, Inc. in Boston is seeking a Software Co-op/Intern for Physical AI to advance perception, deep RL, and ML architectures on real solar construction sites.

You will work on the autonomy stack, evaluate state-of-the-art models, and help build the infrastructure that lets our team iterate rapidly. Ideal candidates are pursuing a PhD or advanced MS in CS with DRL/IL experience, and a strong robotics passion.

Qualifications

• Pursuing PhD or MS in CS with focus on robotics or AI.
• Proficient in DRL and imitation learning, with practical implementation.
• Experience implementing algorithms on real robots beyond coursework.
• Hands-on with C++, Python, ROS, Docker.
• Familiarity with AI coding assistants and developer tools.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the perception and learning-based autonomy components of the LUMI robotics stack
• Evaluate and integrate state-of-the-art ML architectures, such as deep RL policies and VLAs
• Help expand our MLOps infrastructure: training pipelines, evaluating new architectures, and integrating with annotation tools
• Write production code following rigorous coding practices; participate in code reviews, documentation, and cross-functional engineering meetings
• Analyze sensor data and build visualization/debugging tools to evaluate model performance in real and simulated environments
• Support experiments benchmarking learned policies against classical approaches under real field conditions

Skills

DRL & IL understanding

C++

Python

Git & Jira

Agile

Teamwork

Communication

Cloud infrastructure

Startup mindset

Education

PhD or advanced MS in CS

Tools

ROS

Docker

AI coding assistants

Job description

Software Co-op/Intern, Physical AI

South Boston, MA United Staes

$20-25 hourly

ABOUT LUMINOUS

Luminous Robotics, Inc. is solving one of the defining infrastructure problems of this decade: decarbonization and AI data center growth are forcing the world to scale energy infrastructure faster than at any point in history. Based in Boston, we address this through flexible, physical AI robot fleets that build and operate solar energy infrastructure. In the past 12 months, we've developed three generations of LUMI robots and brought online clean energy for thousands of U.S. homes. We're now scaling into large-scale commercial fleet deployments globally

THE ROLE

We're looking for a Physical AI Intern/Co-op to push the learning-based edge of the LUMI autonomy stack — perception, deep RL, and the ML architectures that let our robots handle the unpredictability of real solar construction sites. You'll evaluate and integrate state-of-the‑art models, and help build the infrastructure that lets our whole team iterate on them faster. This isn't research for its own sake — everything you build is aimed at what actually needs to work on a robot in the field.

RESPONSIBLITIES

• Contribute to the perception and learning-based autonomy components of the LUMI robotics stack
• Evaluate and integrate state-of-the‑art ML architectures, such as deep RL policies and VLAs, into LUMI's autonomy stack
• Help expand our MLOps infrastructure: building training pipelines, evaluating new architectures, and integrating with annotation tools
• Write production code following rigorous coding practices; participate in code reviews, documentation, and cross‑functional engineering meetings
• Analyze sensor data and build visualization/debugging tools to evaluate model performance in real and simulated environments
• Support experiments benchmarking learned policies against classical approaches under real field conditions

QUALIFICATIONS

• Current PhD (or advanced MS student) in Computer Science or a related field
• Excellent understanding of deep reinforcement learning (DRL) and imitation learning (IL), with the ability to explore state‑of‑the‑art algorithms across the robotics stack
• Requirement: You must have implemented at least one DRL algorithm (beyond a class assignment), and you must have implemented at least one robotics algorithm on an actual robot (beyond a class assignment)
• Some hands‑on experience with tools such as C++, Python, ROS, and Docker
• Familiarity with AI coding assistants such as Claude Code or OpenAI's developer tools, and comfort using them to accelerate development
• Demonstrated interest in robotics, renewable energy, or clean tech
• Git, Agile methods, Jira, or equivalent
• Excellent communication and organizational skills
• Ability to adapt in a fast-paced startup environment and willing to roll up sleeves, no matter the task
• Team-oriented and excited about real‑world deployment challenges
• Bonus: published a paper at ICRA, IROS, AAAI, IJCAI, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML, RLC, and so on
• Bonus: prior experience with perception algorithms or startup operations
• Bonus: experience with cloud infrastructure

CULTURE FIT

At Luminous, we value grit, creativity, and humility. The ideal candidate is hands‑on, proactive, and excited to contribute in a fast‑moving environment. We look for individuals who are eager to learn, unafraid to take ownership, and passionate about helping accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.

COMPENSATION & PERKS

• Exposure to a high‑growth startup environment.
• Real ownership of production code that ships to deployed robots
• Direct mentorship from senior ML and robotics engineers
• Hands‑on experience with cutting‑edge robotic systems.
• Access to team off‑sites, workshops, and events.
• Potential path to a full‑time offer