Facebook Instagram Twitter RSS Feed PodBean Back to top on side

Postdoctoral Fellow – Robotics (100% FTE)

E-mail:
Kontakt: s.kecerova@savba.sk, +421 2 3240 1002
Počet zobrazení: 180
Project (ISAM focus): Orbital-Grade Robotic CCDS Welding Testbed in Vacuum (≥10⁻³ Pa)
Why this role is unique
• We are building a dedicated “dirty-vacuum” robotics bay engineered to handle fume/metal vapour/plume-generating processes—a capability many European vacuum labs cannot permit.
• You will help mature Contact Capacitor Discharge Stud (CCDS) welding into a novel ISAM enabler for on-orbit capture and structural joining.
• Full-stack experimental line: industrial robot + custom end-effector + instrumented plate + SWIR monitoring + high-current capacitor bank.
• Mission-driven operational scenarios: (1) Attachment to orbital debris, (2) Welding of mounting features for on-orbit assembly.
• Clear technology milestone: TRL 4 in a 3-year programme; strong publication and IP potential.

Job description
• Integrate and calibrate an industrial robot and custom end-effector inside a vacuum workplace; plan trajectories, safe sequences, and tool/base frames.
• Implement operational steps for two scenarios: debris attachment & welding of mounting features (positioning, normal force control, timing, safety interlocks).
• Contribute to the development of the end-effector (grasping/positioning, F/T sensing, stud feeder).
• Co-develop algorithms for optimal CCDS welding (trajectory & force planning, adaptive parameterisation by surface/MLI, multi-sensor feedback: I–V–force–SWIR).
• Data logging & synchronisation; fast experiment analysis; contribution to protocols and publications (towards TRL 4).
Requirements
• PhD in robotics, mechatronics, control, or related.
• Strong C++/Python, ROS/ROS2, robot kinematics and control basics.
• Hands-on integration (calibration, TCP/frames, transforms).

Nice to have
• MoveIt, Gazebo/Isaac Sim, real-time Linux, Git/CI; camera calibration/vision (SWIR a plus); F/T sensors & timing.

Personal qualities
Self-driven, precise, collaborative, safety-minded, with strong analytical thinking.

Employment terms
• Full-time (100% FTE), fixed term 36 months.
• Location: Bratislava. Hybrid lab/office depending on phase.
• Salary set under Act No. 553/2003 Coll., depending on qualification and experience.

• Start date: 1 Jan 2026 (or by agreement).

• Benefits: flexible hours, 45 days’ leave p.a., public-interest institution; access to modern vacuum/robotics/sensing/microscopy infrastructure.
• Full training in vacuum safety and high-current capacitor bank procedures is provided.

How to apply
Email CV, motivation letter (max. 1 page), publications/portfolio (if any), and links to code/GitHub to: s.kecerova@savba.sk

Subject: “Robotics – PhD/Postdoc (ISAM/CCDS)”.
Please include consent to the processing of personal data.

Institute website: https://www.umms.sav.sk/

Späť na pracovné príležitosti