UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
School of Mechanical Engineering
Postdoctoral KTP Robot Vision Scientist – salary £28,132 to £34,233
This is a 3 year project involving a collaboration between vision and robotics
researchers at University of Birmingham and KUKA Robotics UK Limited, the UK
subsidiary of one of the largest industrial robot manufacturers. The project is
part of the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) scheme, supported by the UK
Technology Strategy Board (TSB). The aim of these schemes is to transfer
knowledge between universities and industry.
The aim of the project is to develop a new toolkit of advanced computer vision
and robot control software, which will go well beyond the abilities of current
robots in manufacturing industry. Specific project tasks will include:
1) developing 2D and 3D computer vision methods for detecting, recognising and
localising a variety of different objects in manufacturing environments (e.g.
parts on a conveyor belt);
2) developing algorithms for vision-guided industrial grasping and
manipulation;
3) developing algorithms for optimising the motions of multiple robot arms,
e.g. for picking multiple objects off moving conveyors in minimum time;
4) making all algorithms and methods industrially robust, and transferring them
to KUKA’s commercial software;
5) working directly with KUKA customers to develop robot vision solutions for
real commercial industrial problems.
The researcher will be an employee of the university and will be supervised by
leading vision and robotics researchers, but will spend most of their working
time embedded at the company (based at Wednesbury, just outside Birmingham).
The project is aimed at creating practical, commercialisable industrial
systems, based on state-of-the-art methods from vision and robotics research,
however we also expect to generate some academic publications from the work.
Candidates MUST have:
1) Phd in vision and/or robotics.
2) Outstanding programming skills, including extensive knowledge and experience
in C++.
3) Excellent communication skills, including ability to explain technical
issues to non-experts and colleagues or customers with different kinds of
skills and knowledge.
3) Willingness and ability to work in an industrial environment.
4) Project management skills and the ability to work very independently – you
will be expected to take full responsibility for managing your own project.
Enquiries to:
Prof. Ales Leonardis, a.Leonardis@cs.bham.ac.uk
Dr. Rustam Stolkin, r.stolkin@cs.bham.ac.uk
PLEASE ALSO COPY ALL ENQUIRIES AND CV ETC TO: rustam.stolkin.pa@gmail.com
Further information about KTPs is available at: http://www.ktponline.org.uk/.
Closing date: 30th July, 2014
Interviews: week beginning August 18th at KUKA premises in Wednesbury