Robotics Software Intern

About the Role

Valstad is seeking a Robotics Software Intern to work on manipulation, motion-planning, simulation, or robot-verification software. You will own a defined technical project that improves the reliability, performance, or diagnosability of Valstad’s robotic manufacturing systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and implement a scoped robotics-software project.
• Work with Rust, Python, or both.
• Use simulation and recorded data to test your work.
• Work with rigid-body transformations, robot kinematics, and 3D geometry where relevant.
• Build automated tests for nominal and failure scenarios.
• Participate in robotics architecture discussions and code reviews.
• Analyze logs and robot behavior to diagnose planning or execution issues.
• Validate your work using real robotic hardware when appropriate and under supervision.
• Document assumptions, algorithms, interfaces, and limitations.
• Present your results and demonstrate the completed capability to the Valstad team.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Currently pursuing a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree in robotics, computer science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a related field.
• Strong programming fundamentals.
• Experience with Python, Rust, or both.
• Coursework or practical experience in linear algebra, three-dimensional geometry, kinematics, dynamics, controls, or motion planning.
• Experience completing a meaningful robotics, software, or research project.
• Ability to reason about technical systems and debug unexpected behavior.
• Ability to work independently within a defined project scope.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Interest in robotic manipulation and real-world industrial systems.
• Availability to work full-time and on-site in Austin for the duration of the internship.

Strongly Preferred

• Strong Rust experience.
• Experience with ROS or ROS 2.
• Experience with MoveIt, Tesseract, OMPL, Drake, MuJoCo, Isaac Sim, Gazebo, or another robotics framework.
• Experience with forward and inverse kinematics.
• Experience with homogeneous transformations, quaternions, and coordinate-frame conventions.
• Experience with collision detection or motion planning.
• Experience working with robotic manipulators.
• Experience with Eigen, NumPy, or similar numerical libraries.
• Experience developing simulation or verification tools.
• Experience with industrial robot arms, linear rails, or external axes.
• Experience with robot calibration, hand-eye calibration, or sensor localization.
• Experience working with cameras, laser scanners, force-torque sensors, or other robotics hardware.
• Participation in a robotics laboratory, student robotics team, Formula SAE, combat robotics, or relevant open-source project.

What We Look For

We value evidence that you can apply robotics concepts to systems that behave imperfectly outside the laboratory. Strong candidates often have:

• A manipulator or hardware project they can explain in depth.
• Research involving real robot experiments.
• Open-source robotics contributions.
• Experience debugging coordinate-frame or calibration problems.
• Simulation work connected to physical validation.
• A clear understanding of the difference between an algorithm working once and a system operating reliably.

You do not need industrial-robot or shipbuilding experience. We care more about robotics fundamentals, software quality, and an interest in making algorithms work on physical machines.

Safety and Production Boundaries

Interns may work with industrial robots under the supervision of qualified Valstad personnel. Interns will not independently modify safety systems, authorize production releases, commission energized equipment without supervision, make uncontrolled changes to production robot or PLC programs, or bypass interlocks, protective devices, or established review procedures. Production-facing changes will be reviewed and approved by full-time engineers.

What Success Looks Like

By the end of the internship, you will have delivered a working robotics-software capability that improves planning, simulation, verification, or hardware debugging. Your project will have:

• A clearly defined technical objective.
• A tested implementation.
• Representative nominal and failure scenarios.
• Documentation of assumptions and limitations.
• Integration with Valstad’s software or simulation environment where appropriate.
• A final demonstration using real robot data or physical hardware.

The strongest interns may be considered for future internships or full-time positions.

Compensation and Benefits

• The anticipated pay range for this internship is $34 to $42 per hour, depending on experience and technical depth.
• A dedicated robotics mentor.
• Access to industrial robotic systems.
• Ownership of a substantive technical project.
• Regular technical feedback and code review.
• Potential relocation or temporary-housing assistance where appropriate.
• Consideration for future internship or full-time opportunities.