It is recognised that advanced robotics will have an increasingly important part to play in the competitive future of Railway Maintenance and operations, and this work builds on the previous successful published work at GCU. Maintenance is known as a high cost area within the railway industry however the diverse range of requirements and non-standard, non-repetitive handling contexts required means that smart systems able to cope with the challenges of dull dirty and dangerous tasks that rail can present are needed. Adapting classical robotics to deal with the unique challenges that rail represents, including smart vision, flexible and tactile handling systems, in terms of safety and task repeatability is needed. There are excellent links with Fanuc Robotics, Siemens, Hitachi and Abellio-Scotrail and this proposal builds on those connections.
This project seeks to address the increasing interest in Robotics by use of a low risk approach to robotisation via simulation (Using Fanuc Roboguide – an industry leading software package- Dr Colin Harrison) in conjunction with Computer Vision techniques for task handling (Dr Mario Mata), use of PTC Creo (Dr Colin Harrison) for design together with the internationally recognised expertise in rail of Professor Babakalli Alkali. The aim is to devise a smart robotic maintenance system, incorporating force measurement, advanced handling and vision technology, as well as using robotic simulation to quantify the benefits in a low risk approach for railway maintenance applications.
The successful applicant will hold a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in a relevant subject (UK 1.1 or 2.1 classification) or equivalent. Good understanding and prior experience of working and thinking independently as an engineer, including some CAD such as PTC Creo v5 or similar CAD experience, use of MATLAB including toolboxes, and general programming skills will be an advantage. Please note this is a self-funded opportunity.
To apply, please use the relevant link below:
· As a full-time student: https://evision.prod.gcu.tribalsits.com/urd/sits.urd/run/siw_ipp_lgn.login?process=siw_ipp_app&code1=D27ENGXXXFT&code2=0006
· As a part-time student: https://evision.prod.gcu.tribalsits.com/urd/sits.urd/run/siw_ipp_lgn.login?process=siw_ipp_app&code1=D27ENGXXXPT&code2=0006
The information you submit to Glasgow Caledonian University will only be used by them or their data partners to deal with your enquiry, according to their privacy notice. For more information on how we use and store your data, please read our privacy statement.
Based on your current searches we recommend the following search filters.
Check out our other PhDs in Glasgow, United Kingdom
Check out our other PhDs in Mechanical Engineering
Start a new search with our database of over 4,000 PhDs
Based on your current search criteria we thought you might be interested in these.
Digital Twins for Autonomous Operations and Maintenance of Offshore Renewable Devices based on Multi-access Edge Computing
University of Plymouth
Predictive Machine Maintenance and/or Other Smart Industrial Operations Based on Internet of Things (IoT) Infrastructure Monitoring
University of the West of Scotland
PhD Scholarship in Hydrogen Storage and Sustainable Energy to develop advanced energy storage systems
UNSW Sydney
Get funding news and application tips
Receive PhD updates in your subject
Weekly blog with advice and student stories
Hear about our Virtual Study Fairs
