Motion Planning Intern at Zoox in Foster City, CA

Summary: Zoox is developing the first ground-up, fully autonomous vehicle fleet and the supporting ecosystem required to bring this technology to market. As a Motion Planning Intern, you will work on various teams to build and optimize core autonomy software, develop algorithms for effective operation in degraded states, and improve strategic decision-making capabilities for motion planning. You will gain hands-on experience with state-of-the-art technology and mentorship from industry experts. Responsibilities: - Build and optimize core autonomy software including planning algorithms, collision avoidance systems, trajectory generation and validation, or real-time decision-making systems - Implement efficient data structures for tree search - Develop cost evaluation functions - Work on CAS components like trajectory validators, collision checkers, and safety perception systems - Write high-performance C++ code that runs on our vehicles - Explore ways for Planner to continue operating effectively in the presence of degraded capabilities or limited failures - Develop behavioral and motion planning capabilities in degraded state to improve trip progress metrics and customer experience - Develop algorithms to implement new behaviors or improve upon the performance of existing ones for specific failure modes - Collaborate with a diverse group of experts including Planner, Perception, Prediction, and Hardware - Explore ways to improve our planner’s strategic decision making capabilities - Model long horizon concerns for informed decision making such as lane changes when following a route - Develop algorithms to improve the fidelity of our long horizon motion planning models - Collaborate with other teams, simulation-based and real world validation, and create new introspection tools Required Qualifications: - Currently working towards a B.S., M.S., Ph.D., or advanced degree in a relevant engineering program - Must be returning to school to continue your education upon completing this internship - Good academic standing - Able to commit to a 12-week internship beginning in May or June of 2026 - At least one previous industry internship, co-op, or project completed in a relevant area - Ability to relocate to the Bay Area, California for the duration of the internship - Interns at Zoox may not use any proprietary information they are working on as part of their thesis, any published work with their university, or to be distributed to anyone outside of Zoox Preferred Qualifications: - Experience with robotics, motion planning, or control systems - Knowledge of optimization algorithms and numerical methods - Familiarity with real-time systems and performance optimization - Understanding of autonomous driving concepts (POMDP, tree search, trajectory optimization) - Experience with ROS, Bazel, or similar robotics frameworks - Coursework or projects in robotics, planning, or autonomous systems - Knowledge of safety-critical software development Required Skills: Robotics, Motion Planning, Control Systems Important Skills: Optimization Algorithms, Numerical Methods, Real-time Systems, Performance Optimization, Autonomous Driving Concepts Nice-to-Have Skills: ROS, Bazel, Safety-critical Software Benefits: Medical insurance, Housing stipend, Relocation assistance