PhD Position in Modeling of Soft Robots in Zürich

100%, Zurich, temporary

The  within the  at ETH Zurich is inviting applications for an open PhD position. We are looking for an excellent researcher to join and steer our research efforts in the modeling of soft robots. Our is to build, model, and control robots in a fundamentally different way, so that they become more flexible, dexterous, capable, and adapt better to their environment. The lab showcases its research in design and algorithms through several including a , , and

Robots made of soft materials, so-called soft robots, well surpass the limited degrees of freedom that rigid systems possess and therefore potentially offer adaptable and inherently safe ways of achieving versatile forms in locomotion and manipulation. Soft robots can homogeneously combine actuation, sensing, and structure in one composite. In our lab, we develop continuously deformable robots using compliant materials and intelligent sensors whose properties resemble those of living organisms. These soft robots can be used more flexibly and are safer than conventional ones when interacting with humans and surroundings. The vision of the project is to evolve soft robotic systems from the realm of proof-of-concept, one-off prototypes into capable and reliable machines that can morph to tackle challenging tasks in manipulation and locomotion.

One of the core challenges to overcome and realize the project's vision is the development of soft robotic "brains". Robotic “brains” are needed to fully exploit the unique properties of soft robots and make them useful for real-world applications. The controllers within a robotic brain relies on a fast and representative model of the robotic “body” that is to be controlled. However, accurately modeling a deformable material under controlled actuation and/or interacting with the environment is complex and computationally slow because of the infinite dimensions of the material. Modelling and control approaches used for traditional robotic systems made of rigid links do not readily extend to soft robots. Therefore, it is important to develop new models and controllers for soft robots to enable them to perform challenging locomotion or manipulation tasks that surpass the capabilities of rigid robots.

You develop computationally efficient physics models that capture only the relevant degrees of freedom of a soft robot as defined by their tasks. In your research, you will learn to describe non-linear deformations of hyperelastic materials in real-time. You pursue dual research tracks to achieve a universal soft robotic modeling framework: For symmetrically-shaped robots, you develop minimal parameter methods sufficient enough to capture the dynamics and impedance of the deformable structures while being computationally efficient. For robots of irregular shape, you develop large scale finite element methods and make those models tractable by expanding on techniques such as model order reduction with state observers and deep learning methods. You advance the state of the art of the current modeling approaches used in the dynamic closed-loop control of soft continuum robots. You continuously design, simulate, and test your modeling algorithms on your deformable robots so that they become more able to dexterously interact with an inherently deformable world.

Your system modeling and model-based control approaches will be design-agnostic and user-friendly to facilitate broad adoption in the robotics community. You will conceive and create an open-source modeling framework for soft robots. The development of such a framework will be accelerated through active collaborations with other researchers working on numerical simulations of physical systems such as and on toolboxes for dynamical systems modeling such as .

Next to your research efforts, you are a passionate mentor and a patient educator. You are outstanding in mentoring students performing their semester projects or thesis works in our lab. You will also be involved in the teaching of graduate classes in soft robotics, modeling, controls, and machine learning. 

You are extremely curious, very driven, highly independent, and you want to make a real difference with your research. You work best when you are in a team, you are respectful and thrive when you can collaborate with others and provide support. Through your prior experiences, you have shown your understanding in:

• Developing modeling algorithms for robotic systems or deformable systems
• Designing, and testing modeling algorithms for robots or deforming systems
• Creating simulations of deforming systems for testing out new ideas 
• Developing supervised, unsupervised, and/or reinforcement learning techniques 
• Realizing on-system testing to show your modeling results on real-world devices or natural systems

A good understanding of physical modeling and machine learning methods is essential for the successful completion of the proposed research project. It would be greatly advantageous if you are already proficient in C++ and Python. You collaborate well with your lab mates and other research labs, you are a resourceful asset for other researchers and students, and you can make efficient use of the provided support from R&D experts, scientists, engineers, and doctoral students with background in materials science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, and physics.

ETH Zurich is one of the world’s leading universities specialising in science and technology. We are renowned for our excellent education, cutting-edge fundamental research and direct transfer of new knowledge into society. Over 30,000 people from more than 120 countries find our university to be a place that promotes independent thinking and an environment that inspires excellence. Located in the heart of Europe, yet forging connections all over the world, we work together to develop solutions for the global challenges of today and tomorrow.