Intern: Robotics Software Engineer — 🔒 Filled · Accepting expressions of interest
Part-time internship (min 2 days/week, 6+ months) as a Robotics Software Engineer at a pre-seed robotics/AI startup: build a real-time human-robot interaction interface, set up robot simulations, and integrate software with physical robot hardware and imitation/reinforcement learning algorithms. Remote/hybrid within Australia; Sydney preferred for hardware work.
- Compensation
- Not disclosed
- Location
- Not listed
- Work setup
- Hybrid
- Seniority
- Intern
- Employment
- Internship
- Experience
- Not specified
- Category
- Software engineering
- Posted
Skills
Must have
- Strong intuition of what good code and good software architecture should look like
- Familiarity with robotics software / control algorithms
- Knowledge of and some experience with robotics simulators (MuJoCo, Isaac Sim, Gazebo)
- Experience with ROS/ROS2
- Efficient code development and deployment practices
- Self-driven builder mentality – experimenting, making things happen, thriving on challenges
- Minimum 6-month engagement, at least 2 days/week
Nice to have
- Based in Australia (remote/hybrid; Sydney preferred for hardware testing)
Full description
The role
Imitation Machines is looking for enthusiastic intern(s) to step into the role of a Robotics Software Engineer. We need people with passion and knowledge of building custom software for robotic pipelines, wrangling with simulators and integration with physical robot hardware of various forms. The crux of the role is to build a real-time interactive interface for human-robot interaction and integrate it with Imitation Machines' learning algorithms.
The scope of work includes setting up robot simulation frameworks, developing software for robot integration and human demonstration data collection, and developing the supporting code base.
You will be working closely with and mentored by the founding members of the team. Joining at this early stage will allow you to play a key role in shaping the technical layer of Imitation Machines and take part in the daily life of a deep tech startup.
##
About Imitation Machines
Imitation Machines has an ambitious goal of bringing the latest advances in Imitation and Reinforcement Learning, Robotics and AI into an integrated platform that enables anyone in the world to create robot new and custom behaviours.
Imagine the state of future technology where anyone can teach any robot, by demonstration, to solve any task they need, and create intelligent robotic workforce that meets unique needs across industries, robot forms, and environments. We want this future to happen. We see that all the necessary technological prerequisites are in place, and we're building that future. The readiness of reinforcement learning, imitation learning, and robot hardware has reached a tipping point, positioning Imitation Machines to transform how robot behaviours are created. Rather than relying on conventional programming, we can radically accelerate the process and start building systems where robots are taught by human teachers through demonstration.
We're taking a practice-first approach: real-world robot deployments with our industry partners guide our research and development. By working directly with industries, robot developers, and system integrators, we position ourselves at the frontier of practical imitation learning—tackling the challenges that emerge when these technologies meet real applications. This makes us early integrators of imitation learning in production environments, and it's how we're paving the way for broader adoption of robotic automation.
Imitation Machines is a pre-seed funded startup moving quickly toward our next milestone. We're laser-focused on proving our vision and building a team of machines learning and robotics engineers who want to push the boundaries of what's possible in robot learning.
##
What we’re looking for
- Strong intuition of what good code and good software architecture should look like