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Engineer: Aerial platform construction

Date of call

20/07/2021

Deadline

31/08/2021

Responsible

Joan Solà Ortega

Type

Temporary

Warning Warning: this offer is out of date!

Description

Aerial manipulation is a discipline of robotics devoted to creating robots capable of manipulating the environment through one or more flying vehicles, typically multicopters, to which one or more robotic arms are attached. These robots are called Unmanned Aerial Manipulators (UAMs). At IRI we are designing a UAM consisting of an hexacopter platform on which we will install different types of arms, also created at IRI. Our research goal is particularly focused on the control of these robots in high dynamic situations, with aggressive trajectories and / or high speeds.

We need an engineer to carry out a set of tasks related to the construction of the first prototype, as well as its commissioning and the construction of replicas, in order to achieve a small fleet. This design will be made public (open-source), and therefore it will also be necessary to create good documentation hosted on some type of web support.
This support engineer will be in charge of the start-up and maintenance of the UAM and various replicas. This includes:

(1) Hardware:
- Assembly and repair of the laboratory’s UAMs.
- Identification and calibration of the different elements of the robot (identification of the aerodynamic parameters of the propellers, identification of the dynamic parameters of the multicopter and also those of the arm).
- Tuning and connection of all electronic devices of the UAM.
- Communication of ESCs with the flight controller using UAVCAN.
- Communication speed tests between flight controller and on-board computer.
- Assembly of the robotic arm (ODRI) and integration with the flying platform.

(2) Software:
- Multicopter with a flight controller with PX4 firmware. The job includes updating the PX4 according to the newer versions. Modification of the firmware for use with aerial manipulators.
- Creation and maintenance of the ROS and ROS2 nodes necessary for the operation of the UAM.
- Construction and maintenance of a simulation environment for aerial manipulation.
- Maintenance and support of software related to the robotic arm of the UAM

(3) Others:
- Creation of documentation for the operation of the UAM
- Support for research experiments carried out within the group and involving the use of UAMs

What do we offer?
- Participate in the national research project EB-CON. This project aims at developing methods and algorithms to solve estimation and control problems of robots with high motion dynamics. We use event cameras in terms of perception and estimation, and dynamic predictive control.
- Integration to the IRI’s research line on mobile robotics, a scientific group of international recognition.
- Possibility to participate and be the author of scientific articles in international journals and conferences.

Requirements

Qualifications: Master's degree in robotics or similar
Knowledge: C ++, Python, ROS and ROS2 (valuable experience with PX4 firmware)
Experience: Experience or abilities in assembling robots, especially multicopters
Other: - Person with motivation, self-taught ability (very important), and self-management of tasks.
- Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply

Contacts

Please, send your documentation before 31/08/2021 to:

Email: jobs (at) iri.upc.edu
Address: C/ Llorens i Artigas 4-6, 2a planta. 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Fax: 93 401 57 50
Note: Please, remember to reference the offer (ID-100) and include the following documentation: CV