Research Scientist/Engineer, Mobile Manipulation - Behaviors

At Toyota Research Institute (TRI), we’re on a mission to improve the quality of human life. We’re developing new tools and capabilities to amplify the human experience. To lead this transformative shift in mobility, we’ve built a world-class team in Energy & Materials, Human-Centered AI, Human Interactive Driving, and Robotics.
TRI is assembling a world-class team to develop and integrate innovative solutions that enable a robot to perform complex, human-level mobile manipulation tasks, navigate with and among people, and learn and adapt over time.  The team will develop, deploy, and validate systems in real-world environments, in and around homes.
The team will be focused on heavily leveraging machine learning to marry perception, prediction, and action to produce robust, reactive, coordinated robot behaviors, bootstrapping from simulation, leveraging large amounts of data, and adapting in real world scenarios.
TRI has the runway, roadmap, and expertise to transition the technology development to a product that impacts the lives of millions of people.  Apply to join a fast moving team that demands high-risk innovation and learning from failures, using rigorous processes to identify key technologies, develop a robust, high quality system, and quantitatively evaluate performance.  As part of the team, you will be surrounded and supported by the significant core ML, cloud, software, and hardware expertise at TRI, and be a part of TRI's positive and diverse culture.

Responsibilities

• Develop, integrate, and deploy algorithms linking perception to autonomous robot actions, including manipulation, navigation, and human-robot interaction.
• Invent and deploy innovative solutions at the intersection of machine learning, mobility, manipulation, human interaction, and simulation for performing useful, human-level tasks, in and around homes.
• Invent novel ways to engineer and learn robust, real-world behaviors, including using optimization, planning, reactive control, self-supervision, active learning, learning from demonstration, simulation and transfer learning, and real-world adaptation.
• Be part of a team that fields systems, performs failure analysis, and iterates on improving performance and capabilities.
• Follow software practices that produce maintainable code, including automated testing, continuous integration, code style conformity, and code review.

Qualifications

• M.S. or Ph.D. in an engineering related field.
• A strong track record in inventing and deploying innovative autonomous behaviors for robotic systems in real-world environments.
• Expertise and experience in areas such as reactive control, trajectory optimization, coordinated whole-body control, dexterous manipulation, arm motion planning, grasp planning, navigation, and human interaction.
• Expertise and experience in applying machine learning to robotics, including areas such as reinforcement, imitation, and transfer learning.
• Strong software engineering skills, preferably in C++, and analysis and debugging of autonomous robotic systems
• A team player with strong communication skills, and a willingness to learn from others and contribute back to the robotics community with publications or open source code.
• Passionate about seeing robotics have a real-world, large-scale impact.

The pay range for this position at commencement of employment is expected to be between $165,760 and $238,280/year for California-based roles; however, base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Note that TRI offers a generous benefits package (including 401(k) eligibility and various paid time off benefits, such as vacation, sick time, and parental leave) and an annual cash bonus structure. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.
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