Eurecatis the main Research & Technology Organisation in Catalonia and the second largest private research organization in southern Europe. It brings together the experience of more than 700 professionals and provides services to more than 2,000 companies. Applied R&D, technological services, highly specialized training, technological consultancy or valorisation and exploitation of industrial property are some of the services that Eurecat offers for both large and small and medium-sized enterprises in all sectors. The technology centre participates in more than 200 large national and international consortium projects of high strategic R&I and has 181 patents and 10 spin-offs. The added value provided by Eurecat accelerates innovation, reduces spending on scientific and technological infrastructures, reduces risks and provides specialized knowledge tailored to each company.
Eurecat Robotics and Automation unit holds more than 15 years of experience and works in both private industrial contracts and publicly funded research projects at a national and international level. Eurecat Robotics and Automation unit carries out Applied R&D in the field of industrial and service robotics such as advanced applications, industrial perception, robotics collaboration and manipulation, ground and aerial robots and cognitive robotics. Our main goal is to help our clients and partners to innovate by seeking together the best technological solution, 100% adapted to their needs, efficient, ethical, and ready to go.
The Robotics and Automation Unit at Eurecat Technology Center in partnership with the UPC University offers a PhD Fellowship starting in 2022.
We are looking for a highly motivated researcher to work on including AI techniques in robot grasping and manipulation. The candidate will work mainly for the Intelliman project. The thesis will explore, particularly: a) the inclusion of reasoning techniques in the grasp synthesis process to increase the robot autonomy by making it able to adapt to different situations and recover from failures; b) the embedding of learning-based motion-planning methods within classical task-and-motion planning approaches for manipulation to increase the efficiency. Also, the balance of on-board vs off-board processes will be explored to achieve high performance planning, and robust execution frameworks will be proposed with fast re-planning capabilities for the adaptation to changing scenarios or unforeseen situations. Both physics-based models and machine learning techniques will be explored to devise algorithms for slipping avoidance and in-hand manipulation based on vision/force/tactile sensing with both parallel and multi-fingered grippers. These two control modalities aim at controlling the grasp force in a coordinated way with external aids, such as gravity or contacts with the environment, to enhance dexterity without increasing the number of degrees of freedom of the robotic system.
Functions and Responsibilities:
The research will focus on the scientific contribution and technological developments including:
Besides, it is a great opportunity to apply robotics research to real applications working in National or Horizon Europe research projects or hand by hand with our customers in several of our private contracts with industry.
Studies and Knowledge:
MSc in Computer Science, Automatic Control, Engineering, Mathematics, Physics or related disciplines
Experience:
Coding and tuning experience in development of robotic applications and validation of real-time control functions and simulation models
Developed knowledge in robotic applications, trajectory generation and motion control
Proven experience with C++, Python, ROS, reusable code, and software documentation
Soft Skills:
Ability to work autonomously as well as coordinating with colleagues for eventual team tasks
Excellent communication skills, flexibility, and creativity.
Languages:
Good written and spoken English language skills