Research Associate (m/f) with emphasis in Mobile Manipulation in Service Robotics

The department “Robot and Assistive Systems” at Fraunhofer IPA develops mobile service robots for the numerous applications: from small robots for the home and garden to transport assistants, inspection, and cleaning robots for the industry, or personal robots that attend and support people in their everyday lives. Care-O-bot ( ) and ( ) are two of the most advanced development platforms available for the mobile manipulation of service robotics. We intend to strengthen our mobile manipulation team and therefore are searching for a research associate to support us in this area.

Your tasks with us comprise

• You will develop new methods allowing robots to plan and carry out mobile manipulation tasks (synchronisation of mobile platform and robotic arm)

• Your algorithms will consider tast-specific constraints as well as dynamic changes of the environment, therefore avoiding any possible collisions

• this involves cooperation with colleagues from the image processing team who will provide the relevant sensor information

• You will evaluate the developed algorithms on our robots in realistic application scenarios and environments

• Your tasks comprise solving industrial customer problems as well as investigation and development of new approaches in the context of public research projects

What we expect from you

• Master’s or PhD degree from a typical MINT course, completed with very good results
• Significant experience and deep understanding in the area of real-time motion planning for mobile manipulators
• You have been working with the robot operating system ROS and relevant motion planning software libraries
• Sound knowledge of multiple operating systems (particularly Windows and Linux) and of programming in C++ and MATLAB as well as other high-level languages.
• Very good English and ideally German language proficiency.

What you can expect from us

• Interesting activities in applied research and development in close contact with industry.
• Freedom to implement innovative ideas, publication of results at scientific conferences
• You will join a highly motivated international team in a professional working environment
• Excellent and well-equipped labs, access to some of the most advanced and versatile service robot platforms
• Personal advancement with the possibility of a doctorate at the University of Stuttgart and leadership development

The combinability of job and family is a matter of course for us with child-nursing close by, holiday childcare and support offers in child emergency care as well as homecare and eldercare.

Have we aroused your interest and would you like to get to know us better? With your application, you have the chance to learn everything about our work in our department during our selection days and to get to know your future colleagues in person. For more information, please check here .

Appointment, remuneration and social security benefits based on the public-sector collective wage agreement (TVöD).
In case of identical qualifications preference will be given to severely disabled candidates.
We would like to point out that the chosen job title also includes the third gender.
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft emphasises gender-independent professional equality.

Fraunhofer is Europe’s largest application-oriented research organization. Our research efforts are geared entirely to people’s needs: health, security, communication, energy and the environment. As a result, the work undertaken by our researchers and developers has a significant impact on people’s lives. We are creative. We shape technology. We design products. We improve methods and techniques. We open up new vistas.

Johannes Kienle

Apply at

Job Reference: IPA-

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