About Akara
Akara is a healthcare technology company based in Dublin, Ireland. We are a spin-out from the Robotics and Innovation Lab at Trinity College Dublin, and our mission is to reduce hospital infections and boost service capacity through innovative use of robotics and AI technologies.
We are a values-driven company, committed to developing innovative ways to harness people and technology to reform public health for the betterment of society. We are passionate about using robots for good and are committed to the ethical development of technology - Akara is one of just three companies accepted to take part in the Federation of Responsible Robotics Quality Mark for (AI Based) Robotics.
Our company culture promotes creativity in all its forms, as well as empathy, initiative, teamwork, self-development, inclusivity, and diversity.
Our Technology
We currently have three products, with more in development.
V-surface is a fully autonomous UV disinfection robot intended to rapidly disinfect surfaces in hospitals and other healthcare settings. Our peer-reviewed research has shown that it can decontaminate hospital rooms to a higher standard, using less than 10% of the resources, and 4X faster than current industry standard approaches.
V-air is a fully autonomous UV disinfection robot that disinfects the air in poorly ventilated rooms and buildings. It’s advanced AI and patent-pending design make it the gold-standard in mobile air-disinfection.
Akara Tasker is a smartphone app that allows cleaners to log cleaning tasks in real-time, avoiding the need for paperwork. Data collected through the app is accessible by supervisors in real-time and backend automation virtually eliminates the need for back office administration.
We Offer
- Start-up atmosphere in a fast-growing and rapidly evolving company
- Flexible working hours, including home office
- A centrally located office in Dublin 8
- Opportunity for fast progression as the company grows and to join a highly motivated team with regular team events
Salary
We offer a competitive salary including stock benefits to be negotiated on an individual basis based on experience.
Role 1: Autonomous Navigation Engineer
We are looking for an experienced software engineer in the area of SLAM and autonomous navigation. The ideal candidate has strong knowledge in Python (or C++) software development as well as proven experience building navigation systems for mobile autonomous robots.
The selected individual will be part of the team responsible for developing, integrating and maintaining the autonomous navigation system on both the V-air and V-surface Akara robots. Akara robots work in busy healthcare environments and for this reason safety, robustness, and recovery should be taken into account during the navigation systems design and implementation process.
In this role, your key responsibilities will be to:
- Evaluation and re-design of the current Akara Robotics navigation system
- Long term navigation strategy development
- Autonomous Localization with multiple sensors: odometry, IMU, laser, cameras
- Path planning and motion control with obstacle avoidance
- Implement new and optimize existing behaviours for our robots
- Researching and experimenting with state-of-the-art algorithms for navigation, planning and control
- Stress test in real environments
- Availability to travel locally in Ireland and internationally for pilot sites.
The Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate shares our values (outlined above) and is passionate about building companies. They are a proactive individual that naturally thrives working in a fast-paced start-up environment. They are personable, work well on teams, and have an aptitude for development and design.
(Core)
- 3+ years experience in building navigation systems for mobile robots
- Hands-on experience with ROS
- Good knowledge of the ROS Navigation Stack
- Strong Python and/or C++ skills
- Able to write well-documented, clean code
- Personal initiative, structured way of working and creativity
- European work permit
- Willing to work from Dublin
(Desired)
- Experience with ROS2
- Experience with, version control systems/ansible/systemd/podman/docker
- Comfortable working with Linux and low level systems/networking
- PHD in the area of mobile robot navigation or cognit area
- Experience competing in competitive international robotics competitions (e.g Robocup @Home, european robotics league)
Role 2: Robotics Software Engineer
We are looking for a software engineer to join the robotics team at Akara. The ideal candidate has strong knowledge in Python and/or C++ software development as well as experience building software for robots.
The selected individual will be part of the team responsible for developing, integrating and maintaining the software packages on both the V-air and V-surface Akara robots. Akara robots work in busy healthcare environments and for this reason safety, robustness, and recovery should be taken into account during the software design and implementation process.
In this role, your key responsibilities will be to:
Maintain current software packages
Implement new and optimize existing behaviours for Akara robots
Stress test software in real environments
Availability to travel locally for Pilots
The Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate shares our values (outlined above) and is passionate about building companies. They are a proactive individual that naturally thrives working in a fast-paced start-up environment. They are personable, work well on teams, and have an aptitude for development and design.
(Core)
Degree or higher diploma in Computer Science, Engineering etc. or equivalent experience.
Experience building software systems in the area of robotics
Strong Python and/or C++ skills
Comfortable working with Linux and low level systems/networking
Experience with Git/Gitlab
Personal initiative, structured way of working and creativity
European work permit
(Desired)
Hands-on experience with ROS / ROS2
Developing CI/CD pipelines (ideally using Ansible)**
Experience working with containers, Docker or Podman