Deadline: February 28, 2025
The Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP) summer internship, "LLMs for Safe Navigation," provides summer support for qualified undergraduate and high school students to work with faculty, mentors, and research staff from the Center of Autonomy during the summer months.
The AEOP summer internship aims to combine ideas from robotics, programming, and AI to create systems that help robots move safely on their own. The robots will use data from sensors and instructions written by interns to learn how to navigate. The goal is to create software that works with real robots in unpredictable, real-world environments.
Eligibility Requirements
Students with a GPA of 3.0 or higher to be considered. Students must be U.S. citizens or have permanent resident status. The hiring process is non-discriminatory. High school students will have a basic understanding of computing and programming; undergraduate students will have a background in controls and/or robotics demonstrating an understanding of programming skills (linux, python3, ROS) and hardware skills (prototyping, sensor integration).
Internship Information
Dates: June 2 - July 24, 2025
Interns must be able to commit to 296 hours. The application deadline is February 28th, 2025.
Support: The internship will provide a stipend paid directly to the intern. Housing will be provided in a UT Austin dorm (undergraduate students only) if needed. There is no application fee.
- Undergraduate Stipend: $5920 (2 positions available)
- High School Stipend: $4440 (2 positions available)
Student Role: This position will consist of software and hardware engineering tasks to aid in autonomous robotics research proposed for primarily ground (wheeled, legged) platforms. The Center for Autonomy primarily utilizes two Clearpath Jackals, one husky, and two Unitree Go2 quadrupeds. The research mentor, Dr. Christian Ellis, and the PhD students from the lab will help break down the research objectives into discrete tasks that students can complete.
Interns will deliver two 15-minute research presentations—one defining their project's 5Ws (Week 2) and another summarizing their completed work (Week 10). Students will also prepare a research poster for presentation at the Oden Institute and a brief abstract for inclusion in an AEOP program booklet.
Program Contact: For questions regarding this program, please contact: meredith.albers@austin.utexas.edu
How to Apply
- Create an account to access application via AEOP's website
- Provide required materials:
- Unofficial Transcript
- Personal Statement (2000 words max)
- List of STEM Courses
- At Least One Letter of Recommendation (undergraduate students only)
- Resume optional
- Complete all questions and submit your application.
Application Links
Onboarding Information
This spring, UT Austin will provide interns and their families with all onboarding information and additional lab and university specific in-processing and out-processing procedures. An AEOP welcome package containing AEOP branded materials and additional helpful information will be mailed to selected interns prior to the internship start date. All interns must sign UT Austin’s roles and responsibilities document prior to the start of their internship.
