Research Fellow in Agricultural Robotics - Task Planning and Scheduling

The Norwegian University of Life Sciences is looking to recruit a postdoctoral Research Fellow with expert knowledge in ROS. The candidate will work on the RASberry project that will develop autonomous fleets of robots for in-field transportation to aid and complement human fruit pickers. In particular, the project will consider strawberry production in polytunnels. A solution for autonomous in-field transportation will significantly decrease strawberry production costs and be the first step towards fully autonomous robotic systems for berry production.

For more information about the position and how to apply, please see https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/146720/postdoctoral-fellow-within-autonomous-navigation-for-robotics-in-agriculture-refno-18-00391.

For further information, please contact Professor Pål Johan From, pafr@nmbu.no.

The project will develop a dedicated mobile platform together with software components for fleet management, long-term operation and safe human-robot collaboration in strawberry production facilities.

In this context, we are looking to recruit a postdoctoral Research Fellow with relevant experience and/or a strong interest in a number of research areas, including (not exclusively):

  • ROS
  • Task allocation and planning;
  • Mobile robot fleet coordination;
  • Long-term autonomy for mobile robots;
  • Distributed robotic systems;
  • Integration and orchestration of robotic systems.

Applicants should have, or expect to soon obtain, a PhD in a relevant area. You must have excellent mathematical and coding skills (C++/Python, ROS). The Research Fellowship offers the opportunity to engage in international collaboration within an ambitious team, to work with state-of-the-art robotic hardware and software, and to benefit from excellent support to produce and disseminate original research contributions in the leading international conferences and journals.

The RAS-Berry project
The RAS-Berry project will develop autonomous fleets of robots for in-field transportation to aid and complement human fruit pickers. In particular, the project will consider strawberry production in polytunnels. A solution for autonomous in-field transportation will significantly decrease strawberry production costs and be the first step towards fully autonomous robotic systems for berry production.

The project will develop a dedicated mobile platform together with software components for fleet management, long-term operation and safe human robot collaboration in strawberry production facilities.

The project is a collaboration between the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) and University of Lincoln, and is looking to employ a total of three postdocs and four PhD students. The successful candidates will have access to state-of-the art research farms that will be equipped with production facilities with industrial standard. The project also has access to a wide variety of agricultural robots with advanced sensors and tools. This equipment is already installed on the research farms and will be made available to the project. There is a strong focus on developing solutions that are robust in realistic scenarios, and extensive field testing is therefore required. In order to coordinate the work of everyone involved in the project, several workshops will be held both in Norway and the UK.

See: https://rasberryproject.com/blogs/vacant-positions