Autonomous Systems Intern

About the Role

MITRE’s Autonomous and Intelligent Systems Department is seeking candidates to assist in building robots, artificial intelligence projects, and evaluating state-of-the-art systems. The intern will work on challenging activities in direct support of sponsor programs and/or internal R&D supporting MITRE’s AI and autonomy efforts.

Key Responsibilities

As a Robotics and Autonomous Systems Intern, you will collaborate with a multidisciplinary team of engineers and researchers to gain hands-on experience in one or more of the following areas:

• Autonomous ground, air, surface, or underwater vehicles
• Robot perception and sensor fusion (e.g., cameras, LiDAR, radar, IMU, GPS)
• Motion planning, navigation, and control for robotic platforms
• Real-time and embedded software for robotics
• Robotics-focused Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)
• Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) and state estimation
• Human–Robot Interaction (HRI) and operator interfaces
• Multi-agent and swarm robotics
• Modeling, simulation, and digital twins for robotic systems
• Safety, reliability, and verification of autonomous systems
• Cybersecurity for robotic and autonomous platforms
• Field testing, experimentation, and data collection with robotic systems
• Robotics hardware and software integration

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Must be a full-time student pursuing an accredited degree program in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Aerospace Engineering, or a closely related discipline.
• Must continue to be enrolled the semester following the internship.
• Foundational knowledge of robotics and/or autonomous systems concepts such as robotic architectures, kinematics, dynamics, control, perception, or planning.
• Familiarity with relevant software tools (e.g., C/C++, Python, ROS, MATLAB/Simulink, or similar).
• Sustained excellence in academic performance.
• Demonstrated interest in serving the public or advancing societal missions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience applying robotics or autonomous systems coursework in an internship, research lab, project team, or independent project.
• Proficiency with robotics software frameworks and tools (e.g., ROS/ROS2, Gazebo or other simulators, embedded development environments, version control such as Git).
• Experience with one or more of the following:
• Robot perception and computer vision
• Path planning, navigation, and control algorithms
• Real-time and embedded systems for robotics
• Machine learning for perception or decision-making in autonomous systems
• Modeling, simulation, and hardware-in-the-loop testing

Compensation

• Salary compensation range: $46,500 - $69,500 Annual

Work Location

• Onsite