Research Project Manager - Kumar Lab - Penn Engineering

Job Description Summary

The Research Project Manager in the Kumar Lab in Penn Engineering will conceptualize and develop novel robotics research projects in the field of metric-semantic mapping, semantics-driven active exploration, and foundation models-aided intelligent decision systems, with an additional objective of translating these techniques to further augment agriculture and forestry robotics research. Deliver novel research as publishable research articles and also help write research proposals and reports. Supervise, educate, and support students in projects and help coordinate workflows. Assure compliance with applicable laws, regulations, policies, and procedures.

Job Responsibilities

• Conceptualize and develop research projects for the Internet of Things for Precision Agriculture (IoT4AG) research grant Develop novel semantic mapping algorithms in the field of agricultural and forestry robotics to promote crop yield and silviculture. Deploy algorithms on board robot platforms and hence support robotics field experiments in orchards and forests. Lead bi-weekly research update meetings to discuss ongoing project progress and workshop new ideas. Deliver results in the form of a publishable research article.
• Contribute to the development of a robust autonomous multi-robot mapping and planning stack. Investigate current limitations in intelligent autonomous mapping and planning and subsequently augment the stack with improved capabilities such as robust autonomous semantic exploration. Test new capabilities on board robots platforms and conduct field experiments to verify success. Investigate the latest foundation models in robotics literature and implement suitable algorithms to augment the current stack. Help write research articles and reports on novel findings.
• Contribute to the development and maintenance of the lab's infrastructure, including robot platforms and the design of simulators for experiments
• Participate in the implementation, maintenance, code refactoring, and open sourcing of the lab's code bases

Qualifications

Master's Degree in optimization and control theory or highly related topics and 1 - 2 years of related experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Computer scientist or engineer who is interested in creating/developing a Unity-based simulation environment that will allow realistic simulations of multiple full-stack aerial and ground robots including 3-D geometry, physics and sensor data. The job requires basic understanding of robot control techniques, dockerization mechanisms, and scripting. Experience with ROS, Python, C++, Docker and YAML scripts is necessary. The candidate will also conduct research in the broad area of autonomous multi-agent systems, write reports and articles, and mentor incoming undergraduate and graduate students. Demonstrated writing skills.

Job Location - City, State

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Department / School

School of Engineering and Applied Science

Pay Range

$57,500.00 - $80,000.00 Annual Rate

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