Human Interactive Driving Intern, Platform Research

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 advancing the state of the art in AI, robotics, driving, and material sciences. 

This is a Summer 2026 paid 12-week internship opportunity. Please note that this internship will be a hybrid in-office role. Our driving simulator is physically located there and the intern is expected to test and deploy software on the platform, as well as collaborate with other researchers.

The Team

The Human Interactive Driving (HID) Research group is focused on designing the future of advanced safety systems, pushing the envelope of safety, driver experience, and automation. Our team consists of cognitive scientists, computer scientists, software engineers, mechanical and electrical engineers, vehicle dynamics experts, designers, and more. We leverage multiple simulation and physical platforms to explore novel interfaces, algorithms, and safety technologies.

Our group is developing next-generation training and assessment tools for performance driving and beyond. We are looking into expanding our driving simulation technology by generating novel driving courses, including layout and other features, based on individual drivers’ skill levels, past performance, and long-horizon strategy development. These tracks may also be used to train autonomous and shared autonomy artificial agents

The Internship

We are looking for a 2026 summer research intern in our Los Altos HQ to work on this effort, with an aim of approaching this as a research challenge for combining generative AI and human-factors research. This intern will be expected to work hands-on with a physical simulation system, create working code prototypes, interact frequently with team members, transfer code, design validation experiments, and participate in writing a paper describing the findings, as well as publishing the work.

• Procedural track generation using generative AI, involving the design and implementation of new or extended generative methods to create novel driving environments. 
• Dynamic content creation for our CARLA-based driving simulator, integrating AI-driven or algorithmic content into interactive simulation systems such as CARLA, Unreal, or similar platforms. 
• Driver skill assessment, contributing to the development and validation of models that characterize driver behavior, measure performance, and support human-centered evaluation.

• Currently at-least second year pursuing a Ph.D. in Computer Science, Robotics, Human-Robot Interaction, or related fields.
• Experience in generative AI, whether LLMs with non-language tokens or diffusion models.
• Game development experience: Unreal, Unity, Godot, etc. and/or simulation development experience: CARLA, Sumo, Gazebo, AirSim, etc.
• Strong software engineering skills (C++/Python preferred) and analysis/debugging robotic systems.
• Experience working in a shared codebase with multiple collaborators and reviewing others’ code.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Experience in working in multi-disciplinary teams. You will be working cross-functionally with UX/UI designers, human-factors researchers, and cognitive scientists.
• Must have a high level of self-initiative to prioritize and manage workload and meet project deadlines in a dynamic environment.

• Prior experience in ROS / ROS2.
• Prior experience with human subjects or human-centric research.
• Prior experience in scientific Python, R, or similar statistical analysis tools.

The pay range for this position at commencement of employment is expected to be between $45 and $65/hour for California-based roles, and between $40 and $58/hour for Massachusetts-based roles. Base pay offered will depend on multiple individualized factors, including, but not limited to, business or organizational needs, market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. TRI offers a generous benefits package including medical, dental, and vision insurance, and paid time off benefits (including holiday pay and sick time). Additional details regarding these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.

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