Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories · 2 months ago
Internship - Foundation Models for Robotic Manipulation
Cambridge, MA
Internship
Onsite
Intern
$6,000/mo - $8,000/mo
Start in 2026 SummerMitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL) is seeking a highly motivated and qualified intern to conduct research on applying foundation models to robotic manipulation. The role involves leveraging large-scale pretrained models to enable manipulation capabilities and requires collaboration with researchers to publish findings in leading conferences.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Responsibilities
Conduct research on applying foundation models to robotic manipulation
Leverage large-scale pretrained models to enable generalist manipulation capabilities across diverse objects, tasks and embodiments including humanoids
Explore research topics including few-shot policy learning, multimodal grounding of multiple sensor modalities to robot actions, and adapting foundation models for precise control and high success rate
Collaborate closely with MERL researchers, with the expectation of publishing in top-tier robotics or AI conferences/journals
Algorithm design, model fine-tuning, simulation experiments, and deployment on physical robot platforms equipped with cameras, tactile sensors, and force/torque sensors
Qualification
Required
Strong background in machine learning for robotics, particularly foundation models (e.g., pi_0, OpenVLA, RT-X, etc.) and imitation learning
Experience with simulation environments such as Mujoco, Isaac Gym, or RLBench
Experience with physical robot platforms and sensors (vision, tactile, force/torque)
Proficiency in Python, PyTorch, and modern deep learning frameworks
Strong publication record in robotics, machine learning, or AI venues
Preferred
Experience in working with humanoids
Knowledge on large-scale Vision-Language-Action (VLA) and multimodal foundation models
Benefits
Relocation stipend
Covered travel to and from MERL
Monthly Charlie Card for local commuting
Weekly social gatherings
Professional development opportunities, including research talks by both internal and external speakers
Health insurance coverage
Company
Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories
Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories is the North American arm of the corporate R&D organization of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation.
Founded in 1991
51-200 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
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2025 (1)
2024 (2)
2023 (4)
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2020 (10)
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageLeadership Team
Chiori Hori
Senior Principal Research Scientist
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