About the role#
This is a 12-week internship within the Automated Driving Advanced Development division. You will work on an independent research project focused on sim-to-sim and sim-to-real domain mapping. The goal is to improve how driving policies trained in low-fidelity simulation transfer to high-fidelity environments and real-world driving. You will use large-scale Toyota driving data, generative base models, and closed-loop simulation infrastructure to develop your project. The work is intended to be suitable for submission to a conference or workshop by the end of the term.
What you'll do#
- Conduct research to advance domain mapping for driving policy transfer.
- Design and run experiments using generative models and simulation tools.
- Perform closed-loop evaluations across simulators of varying fidelity.
- Develop metrics to measure how well behaviors carry over between domains.
- Collaborate with researchers to integrate your findings into model development workflows.
- Present your progress to the team and incorporate feedback into your research direction.
- Write up your results as a research paper for conference submission.
What you'll need#
- Currently pursuing a Ph.D. or master’s degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Machine Learning, AI, Engineering, or a related field.
- Proficiency in Python and ML frameworks like PyTorch.
- Understanding of version control, testing, and software engineering fundamentals.
- Research experience in areas such as sim-to-real transfer, domain adaptation, reinforcement learning, imitation learning, generative models, or autonomous driving.
- Demonstrated research ability through publications, preprints, or independent projects.
- Ability to work independently on open-ended problems and communicate results clearly.
- Experience with simulators like CARLA or NVIDIA DriveSim, world models, sensor data, or large-scale distributed training is a plus.
Location & details#
- Location: Los Altos, California.
- Term: Summer 2027.
- Modality: Hybrid, in-office at TRI headquarters.
- Duration: 12 weeks.
- Employment type: Full-time internship.
About Toyota Research Institute
Toyota Research Institute is a research organization founded in 2016. Based in Los Altos, California, it operates as a subsidiary of Toyota. The company focuses on artificial intelligence, robotics, automated driving, and material sciences. Its staff of approximately 485 employees works to develop technology for vehicles and robots while researching new materials for batteries and fuel cells.
How to get in at Toyota Research Institute
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