PhD Position F/M Sensors-based Control of an Aerial Manipulator for Complex Manipulation of Art[...]

European Commission; France; Sur place; EUR 40 000 - 60 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

Le poste de post-doc proposé offre l'opportunité d'effectuer des recherches innovantes sur des systèmes robotiques aériens dans un environnement international. Les candidats devront développer des algorithmes de contrôle robustes pour des manipulateurs aériens dans des scénarios réels, tout en ayant accès à un laboratoire bien équipé et à une équipe amicale.

Prestations

Remboursement partiel des frais de transport

Possibilité de télétravail

Horaires de travail flexibles

Participation aux coûts d'assurance

Qualifications

• Doit avoir un excellent dossier de publication.
• Capacité avérée à travailler de manière autonome.
• Bonne expérience avec les systèmes robotiques.

Responsabilités

• Développer des algorithmes de contrôle basés sur des capteurs pour des robots aériens.
• Valider les tâches avec des expériences réelles.
• Développer un planificateur de manipulation réactif, robuste.

Connaissances

C/C++

ROS

Matlab/Simulink

Optimisation

Formation

PhD en mécanisation, robotique, ingénierie ou informatique

Description du poste

Inria, the French national research institute for the digital sciences

Organisation/Company Inria, the French national research institute for the digital sciences Research Field Computer science Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) Country France Application Deadline 15 Jul 2025 - 00:00 (UTC) Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 38.5 Offer Starting Date 1 Sep 2025 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Reference Number 2025-08916 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

• The work will be carried in English at the Inria Rennes Bretagne Atlantique research center.
• The position is full-time for1 year. The position will be paid according to the French salary regulations forPost dctoralresearchers.
• We do high quality and impactful research in robotics, publishing on the major journals and conferences.
• We often collaborate with other top researchers in europe and worldwide.
• You will have access to a well established laboratory including:
  • two flying arenas equipped with motion tracking system, several quadrotors, and a few fully-actuated manipulators,
  • one robotic manipulation lab equipped with several robotic arms, like the Franka Emika Panda.
• You will be part of an international and friendly team. We organize several events, from after works, to multi-day lab retreat.
• Regular visits and talks by internationally known researchers from top research labs.

Short abstract:

Researchers are trying to make aerial robots perform physical work for new applications like construction, inspection, maintenance, etc. Current methodologies show promising results, but they are limited to very simple tasks only performed in lab environments. In this Thesis we want to go beyond this limited scenario. By the investigation of new sensors-based control methods, we want to make aerial manipulators able to perform much complex tasks using onboard sensors only, especially considering manipulation of articulated objects.

Description:

current investigations and applications are still limited to very simple interaction tasks, involving limited contact behaviors with static and rigid surfaces, and more- over often performed in known/controlled and structured environments (i.e., in ideal lab conditions). Most achieved tasks belong to the family known as push & slide paradigm, which consists in simply touching a wall at different locations with a single point contact end- effector while controlling the interaction force [1, 2]. Moreover, most works performed such a task in indoor controlled environments where the robot position is measured with accurate motion capture systems (MOCAPs) and the environment is perfectly known [3].

Thisproject aims at pioneering this still mostly unexplored domain, pushing further the boundaries of Aerial Physical Interaction (APhI). In contrast to the current state of the art, our goal is to enhance aerial robotic physical interaction capabilities of highly dynamical aerial manipulators (AMs) by considering almost unexplored directions:

• manipulations tasks of articulated and dynamic objects;
• real scenarios requiring the use of onboard sensors only.

The project will focus on the design of sensor-based control algorithms to make aerial robots much more precise, robust and safe while performing physical interaction tasks involving articulated objects, in real environments. As a final demonstrator we want to show an aerial robot equipped with an articulated arm capable to open a door with onboard sensors only.

Theproject will address the following points:

• Reactive manipulation planner: Develop a reactive manipulation planner which makes the robot able to perform complex manipulation tasks while quickly reacting to external disturbances and unexpected events (like wind or loss of contact). For this we will rely on fast re-planning concepts similar to MPC methods and Model Predictive Path-Integral Control (MPPI) [4].
• Sensors-based manipulation planner: Integrate a sensing framework such that the system will rely on onboard sensors only. We also want to formally consider the constraints imposed by the sensing framework in the motion planning problem.
• Robust manipulation planner: Improve the manipulation planner planner such that it generates motions that are intrinsically robust to model uncertainties. For this we will rely on the concept of sensitivity, as well as on deep reinforcement learning methods..
• Experimental validation: All previous tasks will be validated with real experiments. As a final demonstrator we want to show an aerial robot equipped with an articulated arm capable to manipulate articulated objects, e.g., open a door, using onboard sensors only.
• PhDdegree in mechatronics, robotics, engineering, computer science (or related fields)
• Excellent publication records
• Excellent written and spoken English skills
• Good experience in C/C++ , ROS, Matlab/Simulink, CAD
• Good experience with numerical trajectory optimization tools for robotics (e.g., use of CaSaDi, Acado, Autodiff, Crocoddyl, etc.)
• Scientific curiosity, large autonomy and ability to work independently
• Experience with robotic systems and/or aerial robots is a plus

Languages FRENCH Level Basic

Languages ENGLISH Level Good

Additional Information

• Partial reimbursement of public transport costs
• Possibility of teleworking (90 days per year) and flexible organization of working hours
• Partial payment of insurance costs

Monthly gross salary amounting to 2200 euros

Selection process

Please submit online : your resume, cover letter and letters of recommendation eventually