PhD Position Stochastic Safe Envelope Prediction of Damaged Drones

This PhD project is conducted within the ERC Consolidator Grant project "ARCS" in which you will collaborate with an international team of researchers to develop a new paradigm in control theory: Artificial Physical Awareness (APA). APA aims to provide robots with accurate knowledge on their physical capabilities, which are reduced in currently unknown ways after faults and failures. APA requires accurate and up-to-date knowledge on the safe envelope, which is the region of the state space inside which safe operations can be guaranteed. In this PhD project, new theory and methods will be developed for computing, storing, adapting, and utilizing time-varying stochastic safe envelopes for autonomous robots under various failure conditions. In particular, experiments will be conducted with damaged drones in various flight labs, from which data stochastic safe sets will be computed and integrated with real-time adaptive flight envelope protection controllers. 

Requirements:

Need-to-haves:

• Excellent knowledge of the following fields:
• Nonlinear (Optimal) control theory, Flight dynamics, Reachability analysis, System identification, Stochastic Systems Theory.
• In addition the candidate must have excellent
• programming skills in the following languages: C++, C, Python, Matlab
• Affinity with working with (flight) hardware

Nice-to-haves:

• Experience with working with hardware such as drones
• Experience with piloting drones
  
  

Doing a PhD at TU Delft requires English proficiency at a certain level to ensure that the candidate is able to communicate and interact well, participate in English-taught Doctoral Education courses, and write scientific articles and a final thesis. For more details please check the Graduate Schools Admission Requirements.

Salary Benefits:

Doctoral candidates will be offered a 4-year period of employment in principle, but in the form of 2 employment contracts. An initial 1,5 year contract with an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months. Followed by an additional contract for the remaining 2,5 years assuming everything goes well and performance requirements are met.
Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from € 2770 per month in the first year to € 3539 in the fourth year. As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor. The Doctoral Education Programme is aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills.
From 1 September next, a salary increase of 3.7% applies due to a Collective Agreement amendment, followed by an additional 1% increase on 1 January 2025. In addition, most employees employed on 1 September 2024 will receive a one-off payment of €300 gross based on full-time employment.
The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged. 
For international applicants, TU Delft has the Coming to Delft Service. This service provides information for new international employees to help you prepare the relocation and to settle in the Netherlands. The Coming to Delft Service offers a Dual Career Programme for partners and they organise events to expand your (social) network.

36 - 40 hours per week

Mekelweg 2