Bruno Vilhena Adorno received the BS degree (2005) in Mechatronics Engineering and the MS degree (2008) in Electrical Engineering, both from the University of Brasília (Brazil), and the Ph.D. degree (2011) from the University of Montpellier (France). He is currently a Senior Lecturer in Robotics at The University of Manchester. Before joining The University of Manchester, he was an Associate Professor with the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil, where he co-founded and co-led the Mechatronics, Control, and Robotics research group (MACRO). He is an IEEE Senior Member, a CNPq Research Productivity Fellow, and the current chair of the Technical Committee on Robotics of the Brazilian Society of Automatics (2017–2018 and 2019–2020). He has co-authored 17 journal papers and 35 conference papers/book chapters. He is an Associate Editor for the IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, for the Journal of Control, Automation and Electrical Systems, also has been serving on the Editorial Board of the RSJ/IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems and the Congresso Brasileiro de Automática since 2017. He was also the Tutorial/Workshops Chair for the 19th International Conference on Advanced Robotics. His current research interests include both practical and theoretical aspects related to robot kinematics, dynamics, and control with applications to mobile manipulators, humanoids, cooperative manipulation systems, and human-robot interaction.

I am currently looking for an outstanding candidate to conduct Ph.D. research under my supervision. 

This Ph.D. position is funded for 3 years. Due to funding restrictions, the studentship is only available for applicants eligible for UK/home fees (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/studying-in-the-uk-guidance-for-eu-students#changes-to-funding-from-the-2021-to-2022-academic-year). This project will include the payment of tuition fees as well as a stipend equivalent to RCUK rates (currently at £15,609 p.a. tax-free for 2021/22) awarded to the suitable candidate.

Title: Modeling and Constrained Task-Space Control of Soft Robots

Abstract: Although task-space closed-loop control of rigid serial manipulators is well established in the robotics literature, closed-loop control of soft serial manipulators, especially in the task-space, is much less explored due to the inherent complexity of those robots. They have an infinite number of degrees of freedom, yielding several modeling challenges. Also, they have a finite number of actuators, thus making the robot intrinsically underactuated, resulting in control challenges. Last, because the number of sensors is also limited, measurements alone are not sufficient to determine the robot configuration, and thus a good model is paramount for a good estimation. This project will explore techniques for modeling and constrained task-space control of soft serial manipulators, in which constraints, such as obstacles, will be accounted for directly in the control law. That will enable the robot to reach challenging regions of the workspace while ensuring reactivity.

Expected candidate's background:

• Excellent mathematical skills.
• Knowledge of manipulator modeling and control.
• Good programming skills (C++ or Python).
• Excellent communication skills.

Prospective candidates are invited to contact me, by email, and send a single pdf file containing their CV, a short motivation letter, at least one recommendation letter, and their transcripts (BSc and MSc).