One or more Postdocs in Collaborative Control of Tethered USV–UUV Systems for Offshore Inspection

Aalborg Universitet; Esbjerg; On-site; DKK 420,000 - 540,000; Full time

Job summary

Aalborg Universitet in Esbjerg invites applications for a 3-year Postdoc position in Collaborative Control of Tethered USV–UUV Systems for Offshore Inspection. The role is part of the ABBA USV project and is based in the Esbjerg Energy section.

The work focuses on developing and validating control architectures for tethered USV–UUV systems, including two operational modes—Towed Mode and Inspection Mode—with emphasis on safety, real-time control, and experimental validation in marine environments.

Qualifications

• PhD required in engineering, e.g., control engineering.
• Strong background in research with autonomous marine vehicles is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Develop and validate control architectures for tethered USV–UUV systems.
• Investigate collaborative control strategies for Towed Mode and Inspection Mode.
• Perform modeling, simulation, and experimental validation in marine environments.
• Contribute to safety-critical control and tether constraint handling.
• Collaborate with AAU Energy and ABBA project partners on field demonstrations.

Education

PhD in a relevant engineering field (control engineering)

Job description

One or more Postdocs in Collaborative Control of Tethered USV–UUV Systems for Offshore Inspection

At the Faculty of Engineering and Science, AAU Energy, a 3-year Postdoc position is available. The position is offered in relation to the research group Underwater Technology, and the Postdoc will be positioned in the Esbjerg Energy section.

The position is part of the ABBA USV – Above and Below Autonomous Unmanned Systems project and is open for appointment from 1 March, 2027 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The ABBA USV project addresses the growing need for autonomous and remotely operated robotic systems for offshore inspection, maintenance, repair and surveillance. The project develops collaboration between unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), with the USV acting as a central platform for transportation, communication, power supply and coordination of the other vehicles.

The project combines autonomous navigation, collaborative control, and experimental validation to enable efficient offshore operations with reduced dependence on large support vessels and offshore personnel.

The Postdoc will primarily focus on collaborative control of a tethered USV–UUV system for inspection of offshore infrastructure. The tether enables continuous power and high-bandwidth communication between the vehicles but introduces strong dynamic coupling, constraints and safety challenges that must be explicitly considered in the control architecture.

Postdoc Focus Area: Collaborative Control of Tethered USV–UUV Systems

The Postdoc project focuses on the development and experimental validation of control for heterogeneous marine robots that are physically coupled through a tether.

The overall goal is to enable a USV and UUV to operate as a coordinated robotic system for inspection and monitoring of offshore infrastructure such as subsea cables, pipelines and offshore wind structures.

The research will consider two complementary operational modes:

Towed Mode:

The USV provides the primary propulsion and transports the UUV along long-range subsea infrastructure. The UUV carries sensors for detecting and following the infrastructure and performs local corrective manoeuvres. This creates a system in which sensing authority is concentrated at the UUV while the dominant propulsion authority is located at the USV. The project will investigate collaborative and predictive control strategies in which information obtained by the UUV can influence the future trajectory of the USV.

Inspection Mode:

The UUV uses its own thrusters to manoeuvre around offshore structures while remaining connected to the USV. The USV must coordinate its motion with the UUV to maintain favourable tether geometry, avoid excessive tether forces and support safe inspection close to structures.

Key research tasks could include:

• Modelling of coupled USV–UUV systems: Developing multi-physical dynamics modelling and control-oriented models of the USV, UUV and tether, including relevant hydrodynamic effects, environmental disturbances and vehicle–tether interactions. The work may include reduced-order models suitable for real-time control as well as higher-fidelity models for simulation and validation.
• Collaborative control for Towed Mode: Developing control strategies for precision path following of a tethered UUV during high-speed or long-range surveys. Particular attention will be given to the split between sensing and actuation authority, where underwater sensing from the UUV is used to influence USV guidance and trajectory generation.
• Predictive coordination for Inspection Mode: Developing collaborative or shared-horizon predictive-control methods in which future USV and UUV motion is considered jointly. The work may include Model Predictive Control (MPC), robust control, distributed or centralized optimisation, and other model-based approaches suitable for heterogeneous marine vehicles.
• Interaction and disturbance estimation: Investigating state, disturbance and interaction estimation methods that provide information about uncertain hydrodynamics, tether-induced effects and coupled vehicle motion. Relevant approaches may include nonlinear observers, robust estimation, sensor fusion and data-assisted modelling.
• Safety-critical control and constraint handling: Developing strategies to maintain safe operation while respecting tether tension, relative vehicle configuration, actuator limitations, collision avoidance and tether-to-structure clearance. Methods may include constrained predictive control, Control Barrier Functions or related safety-critical control techniques.
• Digital twin and simulation environments: Developing and using simulation or digital-twin environments to evaluate collaborative-control strategies under repeatable conditions before implementation on physical systems. Simulations will include relevant marine disturbances, tether behaviour, vehicle dynamics, sensor behaviour and offshore mission scenarios.
• Experimental and field validation: Implementing and evaluating the developed algorithms on robotic platforms available through AAU and the ABBA project. Validation may include software- and hardware-in-the-loop testing, controlled pool experiments, harbour trials and offshore demonstrations. Relevant performance metrics may include trajectory-tracking accuracy, tether tension, minimum tether-to-structure distance, control effort, computational performance, operational workspace and mission success.

Qualifications and Skills

Applicants should have a strong academic background and hold a PhD degree, or equivalent, in a relevant engineering field, such as control engineering