PhD studentship in Development of Biomimetic Controllers for UAVs.

A PhD studentship is available as part of the 5-year £4.8m “Brains on Board” EPSRC Programme Grant (http://gow.epsrc.ac.uk/NGBOViewGrant.aspx?GrantRef=EP/P006094/1), to start in September 2017. This project will develop neuromorphic control systems for autonomous flying robots, based on studies of the honeybee brain and behaviour, that integrate a suite of important behaviours: flight control, multi-modal learning, navigation, sensory integration and decision-making. When deployed, such autonomous robots will be able to explore novel, unstructured terrain, learn the spatial layout of the environment and identify and localise key items of interest based on learned multimodal signatures.

Recent advances in miniaturised electronics mean we can now build agile and small UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) with fast dynamic responses to environmental changes, similar to flying insects. Despite this, a key factor limiting robotics is the inability to display autonomous and intelligent control with little human intervention, and to flexibly deal with novel environments and scenarios. This PhD topic will address this research gap by building on bio-mimetic and bio-inspired navigation and control methods, based on flying insects, to allow for robust performance under real-world conditions and uncertainties for both ground robots and quadcopter UAVs. Work in this area will study the limitations of traditional control methods based on flying insects (typically, PID control) and develop novel, intelligent control techniques based on insect behaviour.

Prospective applicants should have a good Masters degree (1st/2:1 or Distinction/Merit) in engineering, applied mathematics, or physics with background knowledge of control system design. Prospective candidates will also require strong programming skills e.g. Matlab or C. Knowledge of robotics systems, particularly UAVs, is desirable.

Applicants should apply using the University of Sheffield application system online at: http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/apply/applying including a covering statement and CV. Applications must be received by Wednesday 1st March.

Informal enquiries should be directed to:
Dr Chelsea Sabo ([Email Address Removed]) or Prof James Marshall ([Email Address Removed])

The Department of Computer Science, within the Faculty of Engineering, was established in 1982 and has since attained an international reputation for its research and teaching. In REF2014, the Department was ranked 5th out of 89 computer science departments in the UK, indicating that the large majority of our research is nationally or internationally leading. Further information about the Department can be found at http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/dcs.