While there are numerous cloth simulators available, most of them lack the necessary physical realism to excel in challenging application areas, such as robotics.In the Perception & Manipulation group at IRI, we developed a physically accurate cloth model, CLOTHILDE, and validated its realism empirically using recordings of various textiles. We aim to make this cutting-edge cloth simulator accessible to a wider audience and enhance its capabilities to enable robotic systems to manipulate garments more effectively based on the simulations it generates. The main goals of the project are:
1. Develop a user-friendly VR interface for the cloth simulator, emphasizing real-time feedback, ease of use, interactivity, and customization.
2. Expand the cloth model to include garments with complex designs, considering seams and mixed materials.
3. Optimize the cloth model for handling collisions, especially on surfaces like folding tables.
4. Integrate virtual robotic environments to model robot-cloth interactions with different grasping modes.


ABOUT IRI:
IRI is a Joint University Research Institute participated by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) that conducts research in human-centered robotics and automatic control. The institute is a key player in the Spanish robotics and automatic control scenes, and a valued participant in a large number of collaborations including several ongoing European projects.

ABOUT THE POSTDOC POSITION:
The candidate will join a leading research group in robotic cloth manipulation, which has a laboratory equipped with four mobile robots, three of them with one arm, and three pairs of robots (WAM, KINOVA and UR5) for bimanual manipulation, as well as robot hands, high-precision and RGB-D cameras, motion capture and other sensors, virtual reality devices, and software maintained by the laboratory support staff.
- Training : 240 ECTS of training are also offered, which includes a stay in the ELAN team (modELisation de l'Apparence de phénomènes Non-linéaires, ) at INRIA Grenoble Rhône-Alpes (France).
- Contract conditions: Indefinite contract for a Postdoctoral Researcher associated to the Momentum Project of 4 years' duration according to Spanish science law. Gross annual salary: €41,000 - €52,000.
- Supervisors: Prof. Carme Torras and Prof. Maria Alberich.
- Start of contract: Before 31 December 2024.

This position is funded by the “Momentum CSIC Programme: Develop Your Digital Talent”, financed by the Secretariat of State for Digitization and Artificial Intelligence – Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Service, through Red.es, and with funds from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR)

Contacts

Please, send your documentation before 30/08/2024 to: