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Postdoc Researcher - Linking Perception and Manipulation of Non-Rigid Objects through Deep Learning (MARÍA DE MAEZTU)

Date of call

17/01/2018

Deadline

28/02/2018

Responsible

Carme Torras Genís

Type

Temporary

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Description

The "Institut de Robòtica i Informàtica Industrial (IRI), CSIC-UPC" is seeking a Postdoctoral researcher to work under the framework of the María de Maeztu (MdM) Unit of Excellence Seal.

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 international collaborations including more than ten ongoing H2020 projects and an ERC Advanced Grant. Recently, it has been recognized as a Maria de Maeztu Excellence Unit, the main accreditation given by the Spanish Government to research units that stand out for the impact and international relevance of their results.

ABOUT THE POSTDOC PROJECT
The goal of this project is to develop novel learning techniques to allow a non-expert user to easily teach a service robot to perform complex manipulation tasks of non-rigid objects (such as clothes or food) using a simple RGB-D camera as capturing hardware. The core technique in our approach will be Reinforcement Learning (RL), which is strongly mathematically grounded and has made tremendous progress recently thanks to the integration of Deep Learning techniques. However, by its trial-and-error nature, Deep-RL cannot currently be applied directly to complex task learning involving large state-spaces. For this purpose, we will extend Deep RL with new learning strategies exploiting advanced perception algorithms on real data and combining them with simulated data, obtained either from independent rendering engines or from Generative-Adversarial Networks.

The candidate will be supervised by Dr. Carme Torras and Dr. Francesc Moreno, and she/he will work in cooperation with the members of the Perception and Manipulation group at IRI. The candidate is expected to publish the results of his/her research in top-tier conferences and journals of Computer Vision and Robotics.

ABOUT THE POSITION
A two-year postdoc position under the MdM Strategic Research Programme will be fully covered starting in the first trimester of 2018. The salary will be around 36000 € gross per year. In addition, 5500 € per year will be available for research expenses of the postdoc (travels, registrations, equipment, training, etc)

Requirements

Knowledge: The candidate should be a doctor with a solid mathematical and computer science background.
Experience: The candidate should have experience in carrying out research in computer vision and machine learning. Expertise in visual detection and recognition of deformable objects (in particular, clothing) will be especially valued, as will the processing of RGB-D images, knowledge of deep learning techniques, and some experience in robot manipulation.
Languages: Fluent in English

Contacts

Please, send your documentation before 28/02/2018 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-56) and include the following documentation: Cover letter, CV