School of Mechanical Engineering

The post is a Fixed Term Contract – 12 Months - The post holder is expected to commence this project before June 2015.

University of Birmingham has one of the leading UK robotics research groups, with a diverse research portfolio spanning a variety of different areas of robotics and computer vision. The Birmingham robotics team has recently developed a state-of-the art approach to autonomous grasping with a multi-fingered hand. The robot is shown a single pre-programmed grasp on a single object, and uses a novel machine learning technique to automatically adapt this grasp to new objects of arbitrarily different shapes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCHikOi_95E&feature=youtu.be

We are now seeking a high calibre robotics post-doc, to help us extend these ideas, from uni-manual grasps (with a single multi-finger hand and a single arm), to bi-manual grasps (with two hands mounted on two arms).

The successful candidate will need to rapidly learn our complex in-house manipulation software and algorithms, and extend the work to achieve a successful two-hand demo within a relatively short time. Candidates should have:

1) Phd in robotics, ideally robotic manipulation and some vision experience.

2) Ideally also some post-doctoral experience.

3) Outstanding programming skills, including extensive/professional knowledge and experience in C++.

4) Very strong mathematics skills, including an understanding of computational geometry, probability theory and machine learning.

5) Ability to deliver a working demo with a complex two-arm robotic system