Simulation, Sim to Real - Internship Program

FieldAI’s Irvine team is where embodied AI meets real robots, real sensors, and real field deployments. Based in the heart of Southern California’s robotics ecosystem, we build risk-aware, reliable, field-ready AI systems that solve the hardest problems in robotics and unlock the full potential of embodied intelligence. If you want your work to ship, get tested on hardware, and improve through real deployments, Irvine is the place. We go beyond typical data-driven approaches or pure transformer-only architectures, combining rigorous engineering with learning systems proven in globally deployed solutions that deliver results today and get better every time our robots run in the field.

Join Field AI’s Simulation team for a 12-week internship building tools that connect real-world robot deployments with autonomy development. You’ll work alongside simulation and autonomy engineers on a scoped project in simulation tooling, sensor fidelity, real-to-sim workflows, or autonomy evaluation, with opportunities to validate your work against real robot data.

Work with a mentor to define and deliver a focused simulation project over 12 weeks. Develop or improve robotics simulation tools using Python and/or C++. Help evaluate and improve simulation fidelity in an area such as sensor modeling, timing, robot behavior, or environment representation. Build tools for scenario execution, log replay, regression testing, metrics, or visualization. Use field logs, reconstructed environments, or real-world failure cases to create reproducible simulation scenarios. Collaborate with simulation and autonomy engineers to investigate differences between simulated and real robot behavior. Document your approach and share your results through a final demo and technical handoff. Your project will focus on a subset of these areas, based on your interests, experience, and team priorities.

Currently pursuing a BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related technical field. Programming experience in Python and/or C++ through coursework, research, internships, or personal projects. Foundational knowledge in one or more areas such as robotics, simulation, computer graphics, physics, or software engineering. Experience building and debugging software, including familiarity with Git and Linux. Interest in understanding how sensing, timing, physics, and environments affect robot behavior. A collaborative mindset, curiosity, and willingness to learn unfamiliar tools. Availability for a 12-week internship.

Hands-on experience with Isaac Sim, Gazebo, MuJoCo, Unity, Unreal, or another simulation platform. Familiarity with ROS2, including sensor messages, coordinate transforms, or recorded robot data. Experience working with robot or environment assets such as URDF, USD, meshes, or point clouds. Projects involving sensor simulation, physics modeling, 3D reconstruction, or procedural environment generation. Experience with automated testing, CI workflows, batch simulation, or data analysis and visualization. Experience using real robot data to evaluate simulation accuracy or autonomy performance. Participation in robotics research, student teams, competitions, or open-source projects.

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