Expert Scientist, Sanctuary AI
Reinforcement Learning
CA$150k
Human-like intelligence robotics
Open for applications
Human-like intelligence robotics
101-200 employees
Open for applications
CA$150k
101-200 employees
Company mission
To create the world’s first human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots at a time that is right to make it happen.
Role
Who you are
- Ph.D. in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, or equivalent practical background in Reinforcement Learning and/or Imitation Learning
- 5+ years of hands-on experience implementing and deploying robotic manipulation tasks, both in simulation and on physical robots
- 5+ years of practical experience applying various Reinforcement Learning and/or Imitation Learning methods, with focus on robotics in the real world
- 4+ years experience in developing and optimizing large-batch parallel simulations for Reinforcement Learning
- Proven expertise in continual learning, employing adaptive model training to improve long-term performance and accuracy
- Proven expertise in sim-to-real transfer
- Experience in transitioning Machine Learning research and trained models into real-world production
- Active involvement in integrating Machine Learning models into a robotics platform
- A track record of publishing research in esteemed AI conferences such as ICRA, IROS and CORL
- Skills
- Development with Python 3.8 or later
- Working knowledge of PyTorch and/or TensorFlow
- Familiarity with ROS2
- Expertise in use of Reinforcement Learning principles and their application
- Experience with Atlassian tools; Jira, Confluence, or equivalent i.e. GitLab
- Traits
- Above all else, a consistently positive attitude and a willingness to do whatever it takes to create robust solutions to complex problems
- Strong leadership skills in organizing R&D work for ML projects
- Eager to take on new challenges with tenacity and positivity
- Patience, persistence, and attention to detail when resolving performance issues
- Enthusiasm for bringing human-like intelligence to machines
- Ability to drive development of new functionalities from concept to production
- Ability to multitask and prioritize in a fast paced environment
What the job involves
- As our Expert Scientist, your role will involve choosing the most cutting-edge methods, creating training and data collection systems, overseeing the evaluation of these algorithms in simulated environments, and implementing them on our robots in real-world situations
- You will also enjoy the exclusive chance to make a meaningful impact by working with novel haptic and proprioceptive sensing techniques, thanks to our in-house robot resources
- Create, develop, and enhance cutting-edge RL algorithms and evaluate their performance in practical applications
- Stay current with the latest developments in RL techniques and their application in robotics
- Identify, communicate, and lead research initiatives that show promise to the wider ML team
- Discover strategies for enhancing current RL learning processes, considering key performance metrics like sample efficiency, speed, computational resources, and scalability
- Devising RL training and data collection pipelines to expedite implementation on physical robots
- Collaborate within a diverse team to devise innovative algorithms and investigate the root causes of errors in existing implementations
Otta's take
Sam Franklin
CEO of Otta
Sanctuary has set itself the ambitious task of developing human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots, intending to complement the human labor market - and eventually helping humans settle in outer space. Its robots are modelled on the size and shape of humans, and their cognitive architecture is based on the subsystems of the human brain. The hope is that this puts the so-far elusive artificial general intelligence (AGI) in closer reach.
It’s a challenging mission, but the Sanctuary team have remarkable expertise and experience. Before Sanctuary, the founders launched deep tech robotics company Kindred with backing from the likes of Google and Bloomberg Beta. Whilst it was eventually bought out by Ocado, Sanctuary was designed to pick up where Kindred’s early research left off.
Some critics suggest that Sanctuary’s technology isn’t anything new - just yet. Nor has any company promising AGI (including Tesla) offered up material results. There’s also some question as to whether AGI, technologically glamorous though it may be, is better than highly specialised systems. If it can be done, however, there’s no doubt it’ll prove a remarkable deep-tech breakthrough.
Insights
Company
Funding (2 rounds)
Dec 2022
$30m
GRANT
Mar 2022
$58.5m
SERIES A
Total funding: $88.5m
Company values
- We are Mission-Drive: With one objective: to create the world’s first human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots. Mission success is the only arrow on the compass that guides our work. To be first, we must act with unwavering urgency, in everything we do
- We Rise to the Challenge: What we are doing has never been done before. We embrace the magnitude of our mission and face it head-on, with tenacity, speed, and positive determination. We do whatever it takes to ensure we hit our milestones on the road to mission success
- We Row Together, We Win Together: No matter how great our facilities or capital, we will always maintain the humble mentality of a small, wooden rowboat. Our strength comes from forcefully rowing together towards the same common goal, with each one of us pulling their weight. We stay steady on the course as a team–impervious to distractions and relentless against waves–to reach our destination
- We Act Responsibly: In everything that we do, we take matters of safety, security, confidentiality, privacy, and trust very seriously
- We are a Sanctuary: For our employees and for the future. We are a group of technologically-aligned people, working together with high principles and utmost confidentiality within our Sanctuary. When we successfully achieve our mission, we will provide a Sanctuary for generations to come, with solutions to many of the greatest threats to our way of life
Company HQ
Mount Pleasant, Vancouver, BC
Articles
Founders
Geordie Rose
(CEO)A Doctor of Theoretical Physics, who subsequently founded and served as CTO of quantum computing systems and software company D-Wave Systems, before moving on to co-found Kindred.ai.
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