PREP0005086 Physical AI Researcher

Physical AI Researcher

Project Description:

NIST is investigating the performance of commercial and custom AI systems (hardware and software) for Physical AI applications, specifically in machine learning, reinforcement learning, and foundation model training for Vision-Language Models (VLMs) and Vision-Language Action (VLA) architectures. The work will focus on leveraging physics-based simulations (e.g., Gazebo, MuJoCo, Drake) and synthetic data generation within platforms like NVIDIA IsaacSim / GR00T / Cosmos to conduct experiments, analyze system capabilities, and generate high-quality data to train robust Physical AI systems.

Key Responsibilities: 

• Develop Physical AI applications using machine learning and reinforcement learning
• Research and develop Foundational model training for Vision-Language Models (VLMs) and Vision-Language Action (VLA) architectures
• Research and develop methods for synthetic data generation within platforms like NVIDIA IsaacSim / GR00T / Cosmos to conduct experiments to analyze system capabilities, and generate high-quality data to train robust Physical AI Systems
• Write reports and develop weekly presentations to explain the progress of the project

Desired Qualifications: 

• US Citizen Preferred
• Master’s Degree or Ph.D in Engineering or Computer Science or in the final year of degree (e.g., Computer Science, Robotics, Mechanical Engineering or similar)
• Strong programming experience in Python and C++
• Experience in AI / Machine Learning frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch, etc.)
• Experience with developing and applying tools for Machine Learning, Reinforcement Learning, and Foundational Models for Vision-Language Models (VLM) and Vision-Language Action (VLA) architectures
• Experience in Synthetic data generation in and for NVIDIA IsaacSim, GR00T, and Cosmos environments
• Experience in Physics-based simulation engines (e.g., Gazebo, MuJoCo, Drake, etc.)
• Experience with version control software and workflow (e.g., Git, GitHub, GitLab, BitBucket, etc)
• Experience with Unix / Linux Operating systems
• Experience with ROS 2 on Linux systems
• Some experience with CAD software (e.g., SolidWorks, OnShape, etc.)

Other Details:

• Full-time: the participant is expected to work 40 hours a week
• Location: the participant will work at the NIST Gaithersburg Campus.
• Duration: this is expected to be a one-year position. Extensions are sometimes granted depending on the availability of funds.