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Robotics Physics Simulation Engineer, Large Behavior Models

Toyota Research Institute
Los Altos, California
Full Time
Posted May 16, 2025
$180k - $270k
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Job Description

The Robotics Physics Simulation Engineer at Toyota Research Institute is responsible for developing high-fidelity, high-performance simulation tools for modeling robot dynamics, manipulation, and perception, contributing to the advancement of open-source robotics software and supporting the creation of general-purpose robots capable of operating reliably in unstructured environments.

Key Responsibilities

  • Develop and improve physics-based, high-fidelity simulation tools for modeling robot and vehicle interactions with environments.
  • Implement multibody dynamics, rigid and soft body computational mechanics within simulation software.
  • Create and maintain hybrid dynamic system abstractions and infrastructure that are differentiable and analyzable.
  • Design and optimize solvers for dynamic systems, including numerical integration, time stepping, and event handling.
  • Validate simulation accuracy and verify software and numerical methods through testing and analysis.
  • Contribute high-quality, performant C code to advance the Drake robotics software suite.

Requirements

  • Proficiency in programming and enjoyment of crafting correct, appealing, and performant advanced C code.
  • Experience in developing, maintaining, or contributing to physics-based, high-fidelity, high-performance software tools for simulation of robots and vehicles interacting with their environments.
  • Knowledge of multibody dynamics, rigid and soft body computational mechanics.
  • Experience with hybrid dynamic system abstraction and infrastructure similar to Simulink blocks, but differentiable and symbolically analyzable.
  • Familiarity with solvers for dynamic systems, including numerical integration of DAEs, time stepping, and event handling.
  • Understanding of computational geometry and contact response emphasizing manipulation.
  • Experience with validation of simulation accuracy and verification of software and numerical methods.
  • Ability to work with open-source, modern C software developed using rigorous standard methodologies, including extensive unit and validation tests, and collaborative peer review.
  • Background in robotics, computer graphics, computational geometry and mechanics, multibody dynamics, numerical methods, and software engineering.
  • Educational background in a relevant field such as computer science, robotics, mechanical engineering, or related disciplines (implied by the team’s expertise, though not explicitly specified).
  • Ability to contribute both quality code and novel solutions to open problems in the development of simulation software.
  • Willingness to work as part of a team of computer scientists and engineers with diverse expertise in robotics and related fields.

Benefits & Perks

Salary range between 180,000 and 270,000 USD per year (California-based roles)
Work schedule details not specified
Work environment perks include medical, dental, and vision insurance
Paid time off benefits including vacation, sick leave, and parental leave
Annual cash bonus structure

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