Job Opening for PhD Student and Postdoctoral Researcher
Joris De Winter
Dear,
The Robotics and MultiBody Mechanics Research Group (prof. Bram Vanderborght, prof. Dirk Lefeber, prof. Tom Verstraten) is recruiting one motivated PhD students and one postdoctoral researcher. As a member of R&MM, one of Europe’s leading robotics research centers located in the heart of Europe (Brussels, Belgium), you will be working with over 40 researchers in a creative environment with state-of-the-art lab equipment.
We are looking for following profiles (detailed description at the end of this message):
1) 1 postdoc position on the generation of XR representations of industrial objects and environments
2) 1 PhD student position on the characterization of craftmanship through multi-modal sensing
All candidates must be fluent in English (both written and spoken). The ideal candidate is self-motivated, reliable and result-oriented. Since you will be working in a large, multidisciplinary research group, we expect you to be a communicative team player. You show responsibility towards your team and other researchers from our group and you are willing to engage in open discussions on technical matters within and beyond your field of expertise.
Details about the application process are given below for each of the two job offers.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: August 31!
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Detailed project and work descriptions:
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1) 1 postdoc position on the generation of XR
representations of industrial objects and environments
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XRtwin will research scanning-based solutions that enable cost-efficient eXtended Reality (XR) content acquisition directly from the real world (i.e., with minimal manual modelling or processing effort involved). The focus hereby will be on the capturing of large industrial objects or spaces that are interactive and dynamic, as opposed to the current state-of-use is chiefly concerned with small and/or static objects. The resulting XR representations will be scalable in terms of not only graphical quality but also physics simulation accuracy, to warrant consumption on heterogeneous client devices with varying capabilities (“capture once, consume on any device”). An XR-native reference system architecture (with standardized interfaces to external systems like ERP) and a common XR data format will be researched to maximize valorization potential by promoting interoperability. Project results will be validated in real-world industrial applications.
Work description:
- You will define use cases based on previous XR-related projects and inputs from the industrial partners.
- You will be responsible for the processing of scanned data, aligning it with CAD models, using machine learning-based object detection and classification output to automate the alignment process
- You will develop a Unity plug-in for context-dependent physics, including run-time switching between object representation formats and online graphics versus physics Level of Detail (LoD) balancing.
- You will validate the system architecture in a number of validation cases contributed by the user group.
- In the XRTwin project, you will collaborate and interact with project partners from academia as well as from industry.
- Besides the project work, you will be given the opportunity to participate in the writing of competitive grants and the supervision of Ph.D. students.
Skills/qualifications:
- You hold a doctoral degree in a relevant field (computer engineering, artificial intelligence, robotics or similar).
- You have published peer-reviewed papers in international journals (preferably relevant to the topic).
- You are proficient in C# and/or C++.
- You have experience with or are interested in virtual reality/augmented reality/extended reality.
- You have experience with or are interested in real-time graphic rendering and interactive simulation engines. Experience with Unity is a plus.
- You have experience with 3D CAD or are willing to learn.
- Experience in machine learning is a plus.
- Experience in grant-writing and/or project management is a plus.
To apply:
Send an e-mail to Joris De Winter (joris.d...@vub.be) and Tom Verstraten (Tom.Ver...@vub.be) including your resumé (in pdf format), and - if it is available in English - a digital copy of your PhD thesis. Also provide a motivation letter clearly indicating which position you are applying for and explaining why you would be interested in working on this project.
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2) 1 PhD student position on the characterization
of craftmanship through multi-modal sensing
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In the current manufacturing industry, many tasks are still handled by human operators due to the craftsmanship skill required for the job. Skilled operators execute tasks fast, efficiently, safely, ergonomically, and with high quality. With growing flexibility demands for production environments, operators need to switch more often between different tasks, resulting in a lower experience and skill in the task and thus limited output quality and speed. Training new skills are mainly based on training documents and the experience of expert operators. However, there is still unknown knowledge that is not yet quantified or discovered. In the project AUTOCRAFT, we aim at enhancing craftsmanship knowledge capturing the task execution of skilled operators through multi-modal sensing including motion trajectories, contact forces, body postures, properties of materials and workpieces, process parameter settings, etc. If available, this knowledge will be obtained from different skilled workers to measure their variability while executing tasks. The project relates to the industry and project results will be validated in real-world industrial applications.
Work description:
- You will investigate the current way of transferring skills from expert operators to novices and how multi-modal sensing can enhance craftsmanship knowledge.
- You are responsible for developing a skill capturing system using motion capture (e.g. Vicon, Xsense) and other sensors to measure contact forces, temperature, etc.
- You will be responsible for the processing of captured data from task execution (or demonstration) from expert operators, aligning it with CAD models, using different algorithms to quantify or model different aspects of skills.
- You will develop a common craftsmanship language that is able to describe various skills in a quantified, unambiguous, and scientific manner.
- You will validate your work in several validation cases contributed by the user group.
- You will collaborate and interact with project partners from academia as well as from industry.
- Besides the project work, you will be given the opportunity to supervise master students.
Skills/Qualifications:
- You hold a Master’s degree in a relevant field (computer engineering, artificial intelligence, robotics, or similar).
- You are proficient in C# and/or C++ and willing to learn other programming languages to support the project.
- You have experience with or a profound understanding of multi-sensory technology and virtual reality/augmented reality/extended reality.
- You have experience with 3D CAD or are willing to learn.
- You have experience with or interest in real-time graphic rendering and interactive simulation engines.
- Experience in machine learning is a plus.
- Experience with Unity is a plus.
- Published peer-reviewed papers in international journals (preferably relevant to the topic) is a plus.
To apply:
Send an e-mail to Hoang-Long Cao (Hoang.L...@vub.be) and Tom Verstraten (Tom.Ver...@vub.be) including your resumé (in pdf format), a transcript of grades and a digital copy of your Master’s thesis. Provide a motivation letter clearly indicating which position you are applying for and explaining why you would be interested in working on this project.
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Jobs @ R&MM – Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium)
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