PhD position Aerial Manipulation

The CTIT research institute on ICT (http://www.utwente.nl/ctit) has an opening for a PhD candidate within the research area of Aerial Manipulation.
 

Job specification

AEROWORKS envisions a novel aerial robotic team that possesses the capability to autonomously conduct infrastructure inspection and maintenance tasks, while additionally providing intuitive and user-friendly interfaces to human-operators. The AEROWORKS robotic team will consist of multiple heterogeneous “collaborative Aerial Robotic Workers”, a new class of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles equipped with dexterous manipulators, novel physical interaction and co-manipulation control strategies, perception systems, and planning intelligence. This new generation of worker-robots will be capable of autonomously executing infrastructure inspection and maintenance works.

The main task of the PhD candidate will be to contribute to the development of the Arial Robotic Workers from both hardware and software point of view, specifically concerning the integration of the physical interaction capabilities with the perceptual capabilities in order to allow robust physical interaction in uncertain environment. The position involves close collaboration with other partner of the project, implementation of real system and experimentation on field.
 

Your Profile

The successful applicant has completed a master's degree in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering or computer science with focus on control of robots, or a closely related degree. He or she should have excellent skills and practical experience in several of the following: mechatronic design for robotic or mechatronic systems, modelling and control of robots, robust controller design and implementation, aerial robotics and manipulation. Additional knowledge and previous experience with control of the physical interaction of robotic systems is a plus. Good planning, contactual, and writing skills are obviously relevant to have.
 

Our offer

We offer a contract for four years. The monthly salary of a PhD student, in accordance with the collective labour agreement for Dutch universities (CAO- NU), ranges from  € 2.125 gross in the first year to € 2.717 gross in the fourth year.
The salary is supplemented with a holiday allowance of 8% and an end-of year bonus of 8.3%. A high-quality training program is part of the agreement. You and your supervisor will make up a plan for the additional education and supervising that you specifically need. The research has to result in a PhD thesis at the end of the employment period.

Application and Information
Candidates are invited to upload their application by using the application link below, before March 1, 2015. Please include the following attachments in your application as a *single* PDF file:
· CV (including contact information for at least two academic references)
· Transcripts from your Bachelor's and Master's degrees
· Research statement indicating your background and interests, and how it aligns with the current position (maximum 500 words)

Contact Information
Dr.ir. M. Fumagalli
Robotics and Mechatronics
Carré 3.710, CE-EWI
University of Twente
m.fumagalli@utwente.nl
 

The Organisation

The University of Twente. We stand for life sciences and technology. High tech and human touch. Education and research that matter. New technology which drives change, innovation and progress in society. The University of Twente is the only campus university in the Netherlands; divided over six faculties we provide more than fifty educational programmes. The University of Twente has a strong focus on personal development and talented researchers are given scope for carrying out pioneering research.

The faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) comprises three disciplines that shape Information and Communication Technology. ICT is more than communication. In almost every product we use mathematics, electronics and computer technology and ICT now contributes to all of societies' activities. The faculty works together intensively with industrial partners and researchers in the Netherlands and abroad and conducts extensive research for external commissioning parties and funders. The research which enjoys a high profile both at home and internationally, has been accommodated in the multidisciplinary research institutes MESA+, CTIT and MIRA.