Research Assistant in Resilient Soft Robots

Job description:

Nature offers a mechanism - called homeostasis - by which life forms can maintain their physical integrity and well being. Meanwhile, a series of machines, including robots, cannot overcome some of the most insignificant damage, such as a cut in their functional component. The aim of this project is to develop a fundamental physical homeostatic framework in order to endow machines with the ability to sustain themselves at unpredictable conditions - that is, to autonomously prevent faults and restore lost function, and thus allow the machine’s continuing operation.

In this project we will create physical building blocks which endow machines with homeostatic capabilities. We will (1) develop a physical system endowed with matter-encoded internal states and sensing of various physical stimuli, which supports homeostasis; (2) develop a chemical reaction-driven response framework which is triggered due to internal or externally-generated fault.
If you are passionate about robotics, have ample experience in soft robotics, fluidic systems, smart materials or functional chemistry, we will be very excited to receive your application.

The School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) belongs to the prestigious Faculty of Engineering, which is one of the largest academic communities of engineers in the UK, ranked joint 1st in the UK for Research Environment in the last Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021). Our specific discipline (EEE) is also ranked very highly, which is a marker of our excellence and ambition (QS 2024: 11th in UK, The Guardian 2024: 3rd, The Times Higher 2024: 7th in the UK ). We are home to several national institutes and centres (e.g. National Epitaxy Facility, The National 6G Radio Systems Facility, Rolls-Royce Control, Monitoring and Systems Engineering University Technology Centre) and we strive to conduct fundamental research and innovation to address global challenges, as well as support the education of the next generation of engineers.

Advert information