1.53 Robotics Research Internship, Humanoid… at FieldAI · Boston

Summary: FieldAI is transforming how robots interact with the real world. They are offering a Summer 2026 internship focused on humanoid manipulation for PhD students, where interns will contribute to manipulation capabilities for humanoid robots while collaborating with research scientists and engineers. Responsibilities: - Advance Humanoid Manipulation Research - Design, implement, and evaluate manipulation strategies for humanoid robots across diverse tasks - Explore loco-manipulation problems that integrate perception, planning, and control - Contribute to research projects from early ideas through on-robot experimentation - Build Systems That Bridge Research and Deployment - Translate research concepts into working robotic systems tested on real hardware - Develop experimental setups and tooling to support data collection and evaluation - Help ensure manipulation systems are robust, reproducible, and field-relevant - Contribute to Robotics Foundation Model Development - Support data collection pipelines used to train robotics foundation models - Work with embodiment-agnostic representations to enable transfer across robot platforms - Collaborate with researchers to integrate manipulation data into scalable learning frameworks - Collaborate Across Disciplines - Partner with mechanical and electrical engineers on hardware integration and system bring-up - Work with teleoperators and field teams to refine interfaces and improve manipulation outcomes - Engage closely with researchers and engineers to align experiments with broader autonomy goals - Rapidly Iterate and Learn - Prototype quickly, run experiments on hardware, and analyze results rigorously - Balance exploratory research with concrete deliverables over the course of the internship - Debug system-level issues spanning software, hardware, and learning Required Qualifications: - Current PhD student in Robotics, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, AI/ML, or a closely related field - Research experience in robotic manipulation, loco-manipulation, or related robotics domains - Strong foundation in robot kinematics, dynamics, and control - Proficiency in Python and/or C++, with experience using robotics or ML tooling - Experience designing experiments and evaluating results on robotic systems (simulation or hardware) - Curiosity, initiative, and a strong interest in embodied intelligence and real-world robotics Preferred Qualifications: - Prior experience working with humanoid robots or dexterous robotic hands - Background in learning-based manipulation, including imitation learning or reinforcement learning - Hands-on experience running experiments on real robot hardware - Familiarity with ROS or ROS 2 - Publications, preprints, or open-source contributions in robotics or AI - Interest in bridging cutting-edge research with practical, field-ready robotic systems Required Skills: Robotic manipulation, Robot kinematics, Python, C++ Important Skills: Experiment design, ROS, ROS 2 Nice-to-Have Skills: Curiosity, Interest in robotics, Initiative Internship Start Date: Start in 2026 Summer