[alife] Doctoral position available in swarm robotics at IRIDIA, Brussels, Belgium
Vito Trianni
vito.trianni at istc.cnr.it
Tue May 24 07:07:22 PDT 2011
H2SWARM: DOCTORAL POSITION AVAILABLE
IRIDIA-CoDE, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
GENERAL INFORMATION
-----------------------------------------------
A PhD Studentship is available within the context of the H2SWARM
Project at IRIDIA-CoDE, the artificial intelligence lab of the
Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. The project aims at the study
of hierarchical, heterogeneous robotic swarms (see below). The project
will start its activities on September the 1st, 2011, and will last
three years. It is sponsored by the European Science Foundation
through national founding agencies, and involves the following partners:
- ISTC-CNR in Rome, ITALY
- IRIDIA-CoDE in Brussels, BELGIUM,
- KU-Leuven, BELGIUM
- LSRO-EPFL, Lausanne, SWITZERLAND
The student we are looking for should possess a degree that allows to
embark in a doctoral program (doctoral student positions). The area of
competence should be in at least one of the following disciplines:
Computer Science, Computational Intelligence, Electrical Engineering,
Cognitive Sciences. A master's degree with research experience is an
asset. The student should have a strong background in Computer
Science, Physics, Mathematics, Statistics or other relevant
computational disciplines. In particular, she/he should demonstrate
very strong programming skills in one or more major computer
languages. Good communication and team-working skills are essential.
HOW TO APPLY
-----------------------------------------------
The interested candidate should submit an application containing:
- An updated CV
- A two-pages motivation letter
- Three references from researchers and academics in the field (name
and contact details)
The selection process will follow gender equality policies.
Please address your application or informal inquiries to Dr. Vito
Trianni (E-mail: vtrianni at ulb.ac.be).
PROJECT INFORMATION
-----------------------------------------------
H2SWARM: Hierarchical Heterogeneous Swarm, funded by the European
Science Foundation within the EUROCORES programme "Bio-inspired
Engineering of Sensors, Actuators & Systems (EuroBioSAS)". 2011-2014.
The main goal of the project is the study of hierarchical
communication and control strategies for swarms of heterogeneous
robots, which, despite the differences among sub-groups, coherently
operate in an integrated manner to achieve a common goal. This will be
achieved by looking at how Nature structures and organises large
groups, such as ant colonies or honeybee swarms.
Various studies approached the design of control and communication
systems for groups of robots, inspired by the social insect metaphor.
All these studies belong to the Swarm Robotics field, which emphasises
aspects like decentralisation of control, robustness, flexibility and
scalability. However, Swarm Robotics is still far from tackling
complex application scenarios that can be compared with classical
engineering approaches. In this respect, the study of heterogeneous
collective systems can lead to more complex applications, in which
robots work in a tightly cooperating team. Heterogeneous swarms pose a
number of research questions that have been investigated only to a
limited extent so far. For instance, what are the relevant
interactions among heterogeneous groups that can lead to an overall
coherent behaviour? How to design self-organising robotic systems with
multiple levels of organisation, which can allow intra- and inter-
group coordination? How do swarm robotic systems compare with more
classical engineering approaches in practical application scenarios?
The proposed research project will address these questions with a
multidisciplinary approach that is strongly grounded on biological
studies.
========================================================================
Vito Trianni, Ph.D. vtrianni@(no_spam)ulb.ac.be
IRIDIA-CoDE, CP 194/6 http://laral.istc.cnr.it/trianni
Université Libre de Bruxelles Tel: +32 (0)2 650 2712
Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 50 Fax: +39 (0)2 650 2715
1050 Bruxelles
Belgium
========================================================================
========================================================================
Vito Trianni, Ph.D. vtrianni@(no_spam)ulb.ac.be
IRIDIA-CoDE, CP 194/6 http://laral.istc.cnr.it/trianni
Université Libre de Bruxelles Tel: +32 (0)2 650 2712
Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 50 Fax: +39 (0)2 650 2715
1050 Bruxelles
Belgium
========================================================================
More information about the alife-announce
mailing list