Research Fellow in Robot Fruit Picking, Stelram at University of Lincoln

Stelram Engineering Ltd - Wakefield
£32,000 - £32,004 a year - Temporary
Job Summary
Researcher in Robotics
Location: Wakefield
Salary: From £32,004 per annum
This post is fixed term for 15 months.
Closing Date: 30th November 2017
Reference: Stelrob1
Stelram Engineering Ltd and the University of Lincoln are seeking to appoint a skilled robotics graduate. The successful candidate will be employed as part of food orientated robotics project, which will develop an automated robotic picking system for crops. It addresses a key threat to the long-term future of the UK food processing/farming industry arising from reduced labour availability due to likely limits on immigrant labour arising from Brexit and increased cost. Picking labour currently accounts for ca. 1/3 of the production costs and could all be removed through robotic harvesting. Previous work, across global centres, has hitherto failed to develop a fully robotic harvester.
The project is collaboration between Stelram Engineering and the University of Lincoln. The post will be located at Stelram with close collaboration with the University of Lincoln (regular visits).
We are looking to recruit a Researcher specialised in research and software development in at least one of the following fields:
Real-time robot control systems
Motion planning
Robot grasping
Machine learning for robotics (Reinforcement Learning, Imitation Learning)
Primary tasks of the successful candidates include (not exclusively):
Control of the robot arm and a soft robotic gripper
Development of novel targeting and motion control algorithms
Grasp point detection and grasp planning
Precise force control for picking the crop
Application of machine learning methods for data-driven improvement of the picking strategies.
Participate in the development of a robotic harvesting prototype
Applicants should preferably have a MSc in a relevant area. You must have excellent mathematical and coding skills (C++/Python, ROS). The position offers the opportunity to engage in international collaboration within an ambitious team, to work with state-of-the-art computer vision, robotic hardware and software, and to benefit from excellent support to produce and disseminate original research contributions in the leading international conferences and journals. Opportunities to mentor and co-supervise students working in the project team will also be available to outstanding candidates.
Qualifications and Skills
Applicants should preferably have M.Sc or B.Sc in a relevant area.
Job Type: Temporary
Salary: £32,000.00 to £32,004.00 /year
Required education:
Bachelor's