Industrial PhD position AIMEN and CiTIUS about collaborative industrial robotics

CiTIUS is a research centre specialized in Intelligent Technologies, with a team of over 120 researchers. Our team is the greatest asset of our centre, and we are constantly looking for scientific talent. CiTIUS provides a stimulating, interdisciplinary, and cutting-edge scientific environment where our researchers can enhance and develop their scientific careers in an international team. We are part of a high-level scientific ecosystem with five research centres specialized in different areas (CiQUS, CiMUS, IGFAE, CRETUS and CiTIUS). Santiago de Compostela is a UNESCO World Heritage City, with over 5 million square meters of green spaces, and it was named one of the 100 best places in the world by TIME Magazine in 2021. See more here.

The University of Santiago de Compostela (USC)

USC offers a vibrant and stimulating environment for postdoctoral research, characterized by its academic excellence and rich history. Founded in 1495, USC is one of the oldest universities in Europe and has been recognized for its significant contribution to science and culture. With approximately 20,000 undergraduate students and over 2,500 PhD students, USC provides a dynamic and diverse academic community. The university has been awarded the "HR Excellence in Research" by the EC under the HRS4R process, highlighting its commitment to supporting researchers.

Aimen

We are a highly specialized Innovation and Technology Center in the field of materials and advanced manufacturing technologies. Our expertise lies in material processing, circularity, sustainability, and digitalization. Located in O Porriño, our cutting-edge facilities are equipped with state-of-the-art technology.

Requirements for candidates

• The candidate must have completed their Bachelor's Degree within the last 5 years.
• The candidate should hold a Master's degree in the field of robotics, computer science, artificial intelligence, or mechatronics.
• Previous experience in industrial robotics will be highly appreciated.
• The candidate must meet the requirements to enrol in a PhD program.

Description of the position

The candidate will be hired as a PhD student for three years by Aimen (approximately starting in March/April 2025), with the possibility of a work contract at Aimen after the PhD defence. The candidate should enrol in the PhD programme "Information Technology Research" at USC in February 2025.

PhD Title

Physical intelligence for collaborative industrial robots based on robustness against uncertainties

PhD Abstract

Uncertainties in human-robot collaborative tasks have limited the extension of collaborative robots in industrial assembly/disassembly applications. In particular, the variability of the product to be handled (e.g. different components for different products or even the inexistence of component lists for recycling operations), the sparsity of perception data (e.g. occlusions between components during assembly/disassembly), and the lack of contextual communication between humans and robots (e.g. unclear task re-planning between them to handle unexpected situations) are restricting the adaptability of collaborative robots that need to cooperate with human operators in manipulation tasks. To solve this problem, this PhD aims to develop a novel physical intelligence framework based on the combination of three main components: robust product/human active perception based on noise estimation strategies, intuitive robot re-programming by human demonstrations based on inverse reinforcement learning, and automatic task re-planning based on safety factors identified by the latest ISO standards.

If you are interested, please send your CV to:

• juanantonio.corrales@usc.es
• santiago.muinos@aimen.es
• fvidal@aimen.es