PhD Position in Flexible Joint Robotic Architectures for Deformable Object Manipulation

This doctoral position is part of the DRMI project within the national research program PEPR Robotics, hosted at the LIRMM laboratory in Montpellier in collaboration with FEMTO-ST in Besançon. The successful candidate will focus on the co-design of robotic architectures and flexible joints to enhance dexterity and precision in handling millimeter-sized, deformable, and fragile objects. Responsibilities include establishing unified performance indices, developing nonlinear modeling and control strategies, and conducting experimental validations on physical prototypes. Candidates are expected to hold a master's degree or engineering diploma and actively contribute to project meetings and scientific publications.

• Establish unified performance indices for the joint design of robotic architectures and compliant joints, addressing stiffness distribution, isotropy, and parasitic motions.
• Propose modeling and control strategies to manage the nonlinear behavior of soft joints within complex kinematic chains.
• Develop optimization frameworks for high-precision flexible joints and overall robotic architectures.
• Investigate suitable materials for compliant joints and analyze their impact on overall robot performance.
• Utilize advanced manufacturing techniques like 3D printing to implement optimized geometries for miniaturized robotic systems.
• Build prototypes and conduct application-specific experimental trials to verify kinematic fidelity, dexterity, and precision.
• Draft scientific publications and project reports.
• Participate in weekly thesis meetings and PEPR Robotics consortium meetings.