PhD / Postdoc position - Research on soft dexterous, sensorized robot hands and soft manipulation

Research Assistant - salary grade E 13 TV-L Berliner Hochschulen

Faculty IV - Institute of Computer Engineering and Microelectronics / Robotics and Biology Laboratory
Reference number: IV-944/19 (starting at the earliest possible / limited until for 3 years)
Closing date for applications: 24/01/20

The manual dexterity of humans remains unmatched by robotic manipulation systems. We aim to significantly reduce this gap by producing highly capable manipulation systems. Inspired and guided by observations and understanding of human manipulation skills, this project explores systematic co-design of hand morphology and motion generation/control to devise systems with novel (in-hand) manipulation capabilities. The aim is to develop a principled understanding of soft robotic (in-hand) manipulation.

Working field: Research on soft dexterous, sensorized robot hands and soft manipulation; it is possible to work towards a PhD.

Requirements:

• successfully completed university degree (Master, Diploma or equivalent) in Computer Science or a related subject with outstanding results
• excellent knowledge and experience in soft robotics, soft manipulation, soft sensing
• experience in (deep) machine learning, computer vision, control and planning are desirable
• knowledge of object-oriented programming
• very good English skills; good command of German is required or the willingness to learn this

For more information please contact robotics@robotics.tu-berlin.de or call +49(0)30 314 73110.

Please send your application with the reference number IV-944/19 and the
usual documents by email as a single pdf file to robotics@robotics.tu-berlin.de.

To ensure equal opportunities between women and men, applications by women with the required qualifications are explicitly desired. Qualified individuals with disabilities will be favored. The TU Berlin values the diversity of its members and is committed to the goals of equal opportunities.

Please send copies only. Original documents will not be returned.
The vacancy is also available on the internet at
http://www.personalabteilung.tu-berlin.de/menue/jobs/ [1]

Position: Student research assistant (only for students of Universities in Berlin)
Reference: 3434 T 80/18 (please include this with your application!)

Topic: Protein structure prediction

The Robotics and Biology Lab conducts innovative research in protein structure prediction and protein flexibility. We are currently looking for motivated students that support our effort in entering the 12^th community-wide experiment on the Critical Assessment on Protein Structure prediction (CASP http://predictioncenter.org [2]).

The successful applicant will be involved in developing and implementing a novel protein structure prediction framework. We offer the opportunity to become part of a team that conducts cutting-edge research in structure prediction.

Required skills:

• Strong programming skills in python
• Excellent English
• Experience with C/C++ and/or experience with programming of large dedicated compute clusters (HPC) is a plus
• Successful completion of a course offered by RBO (e.g. Robotics: Fundamentals, Robotics, or Computational Biology)

Familiarity with one of the following research areas is helpful but not required:

• Computational Biology
• Bioinformatics
• Machine Learning
• Robotics

Please email your application, including cover letter, CV, and other supporting material as a single PDF file to robotics@robotics.tu-berlin.de. [3]

For further information, please see the official listing at PRSB TU Berlin [4].

Position: Student research assistant (only for students of Universities in Berlin)
Reference: 3434 T 81/18 (please include this with your application!)

Topic: Robotics

We – the Robotics and Biology Lab – are looking for enthusiastic students that help us improving the capabilities of our robot platforms. We offer a flexible, collaborative work environment and the opportunity to learn and gain valuable experience in a wide range of robot-related topics.

Possible tasks/projects:

• building soft robotic hands
• conducting robotic experiments
• development and testing of perception, planning, and control software
• extension of our robot simulation framework
• integration and enhancement of hardware drivers
• teaching support

Required skills:

• excellent C++ and/or python coding abilities
• comfortable operating under Linux
• excellent English

Nice to have skills:

• successful completion of a course offered by RBO (e.g. Robotics: Fundamentals, Robotics, or Computational Biology)
• experience with rubber molding (silicone rubber, vacuum casting)
• experience with soldering of small components (custom PCBs)
• knowledge of the fundamentals of robotics (e.g. kinematics, dynamics, planning, probabilistic methods, etc.)
• experience using real-life sensor data and dealing with error / uncertainty
• experience controlling robot arms
• experience using computer vision (camera, Kinect)
• experience using machine learning algorithms
• experience with the robotics/vision software packages: ROS, OpenCV, PCL
• experience with computer graphics and physics engines: Blender, Bullet, PhysX
• experience using machine learning software: scikit-learn, Theano

If you fulfill some of the above mentioned requirements please email your application, including cover letter, CV and other supporting material as a single PDF file to robotics@robotics.tu-berlin.de [5].

For further information, please see the official listing at PRSB TU Berlin [6].