PhD Position in Soft Robotics and Human‑Robot Interaction

The Institut Franche‑Comté Electronique, Mécanique, Thermique et Optique (ICEMTO) together with the CNRS is offering a doctoral project on soft robotics and human‑robot interaction. The research will focus on embodied perception in modular soft robots, integrating sensors directly into the robot structure and creating expressive movement capabilities. The PhD candidate will design and fabricate integrated sensors, develop interaction scenarios for human‑robot and robot‑robot collaboration, and evaluate affective and social aspects of the interaction. The work contributes to WP2 of the PEPR O2R programme, which explores deformation‑driven motion and embodied intelligence. Successful applicants are expected to conduct experiments, analyse data, and publish results in peer‑reviewed venues.

• Design and integrate proprioceptive sensors within the core of modular soft robot structures.
• Develop and implement interaction scenarios for human‑robot and robot‑robot collaborative tasks.
• Conduct experiments to evaluate expressive movement and affective communication capabilities of the robots.
• Analyse sensor data and motion capture results to improve embodied perception algorithms.
• Contribute to the WP2 research objectives on deformation‑driven motion and embodied intelligence.
• Prepare scientific publications and present findings at conferences and workshops.